Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

When the month of March started, it looked like the Atlanta Hawks were going to be a team that found themselves finishing in the fourth place in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks though have run into a roadblock this month, going 1-5 so far to fall to 34-28.

Atlanta now must face the red-hot Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers on back-to-back nights, which could hurt the record for the Hawks even more.

There may be a crisis of confidence going on with this team right now. Al Horford is doing everything he can for Atlanta with more than ten rebounds in each of the last four games, and is averaging 20 points and 11 rebounds over his last five games.

This is obviously not on Horford then, and you can’t point at Josh Smith either, because he is scoring over 18 points a game during the last five games for the Hawks as well. Atlanta has fallen all the way to the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference and with their upcoming schedule, may fall to the eighth seed.

There is no team that wants that seed because it means a first-round matchup with the Heat, who have already clinched a playoff spot for this season. There aren’t any teams that are going to beat Miami in a seven-game series right now, and if Atlanta wants to get past the first round, they may want to pick up their game to a point where they at least finish with the No. 7 seed to avoid Miami as long as possible.

This slump must end soon though for the Hawks or their fate is sealed.

Andy Schmidt is a columnist/writer for RantSports. Follow him on Twitter @ASchmidtSports, like his Facebook page or add him to your network on Google.