Upon arriving in Atlanta, the Hawks had virtually the same team except for Lenny Wilkens, who would be traded to the Seattle Supersonics for Walt Hazzard. Hazzard would help lead the Hawks to a solid second place season with a record of 48-34.

In the playoff, the Hawks would need six games to get past the San Diego Rockets to set up a match with Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Finals. However, the Hawks would be dominated by the Lakers losing in five games.