By Shawn O'Neal
SportsLine NBA Editor

Keep it down.

Quietly, the Atlanta Hawks have become a threat to win the Central Division and take one of the top two seeds into the Eastern Conference playoffs.

They've done it so quietly, in fact, that nobody in their own city seems to notice or care.

Dikembe Mutombo and the hot Hawks are standing over most of the East.(AP)

Always one of the NBA's most anonymous teams, the Hawks have rarely been the biggest draw in Atlanta. That honor belongs to the Braves, with the Falcons' Super Bowl run leaving the Hawks a distant third.

Maybe things are about to change.

Though many NBA fans would be hard pressed to name more than a couple of their players, the Hawks are putting the screws to the Indiana Pacers -- the team that would be the NBA's king.

Thus far, Atlanta is a mystery the Pacers have been unable to solve. Entering Friday's showdown in Atlanta, the Hawks have won all three of the teams' meetings this year and have won seven straight overall. They are getting quality efforts from Alan Henderson (12.6 points per game) and Mookie Blaylock (13.8 ppg and 5.8 apg) to go along with stalwarts Dikembe Mutombo (11.1 ppg and 12.2 rpg) and Steve Smith (18.6 ppg).

Despite all of Atlanta's positives, there's a reason the locals are pessimistic. Since making the move from St. Louis to Atlanta in 1968, the Hawks have not advanced past the second round of the playoffs and were bounced 3-1 by Charlotte in the first round last year.

WASHINGTON POINT GUARD ROD STRICKLAND knows a thing or two about troubled pasts.

His came to light again late last week when he was arrested and charged with DWI. It's his second such arrest, with the probation from his last tango expiring just a couple of weeks before his latest arrest.

He says he plans to beat the charges in court. If he does, it will be the Wizards' first significant victory of the season.

Sizzlin' ... The Countdown

The impact has been minimal, but the Dallas Mavericks are closing the year with a flourish, having won five of their past seven, including three against playoff-bound teams. Dallas has defeated Phoenix once and Houston twice. These are the things that will keep the Mavericks warm during another long off-season.

4. Armstrong again

The Magic's sixth man, Darrell Armstrong, has been the definition of sizzlin' this year. The late shot he hit Tuesday to push the Magic past the Pacers in Indianapolis kept Orlando's Atlantic Division title hopes alive and gave Atlanta a boost in the Central. Such heroics have become routine for a player who could still walk through any shopping mall in the country without being noticed.

3. Don't knock the Knicks

A regular among the fizzlers this season, the Knicks aren't exactly setting the league afire in the final month, but they are picking up late wins and appear to be on their way to the playoffs. That's saying something considering where they were two weeks ago.

2. Spurs in the moment

San Antonio is still hanging around the top of the Midwest and will gets its chance to win the division title when Utah travels to the Alamodome Sunday.

1. Hotlanta

The Pacers have been aware of the Hawks for some time. The rest of the league is starting to catch on.

Fizzlin' ... The Countdown

Granted, Alonzo Mourning was out. But Miami should not be losing to the Celtics at home. And Tim Hardaway should certainly not be committing nine turnovers while being guarded by Dana Barros.

4. Cavaliers going quietly

It's hard not to like what coach Mike Fratello had done with the Cavaliers. That was before another round of injuries decimated the team. Already without Zydrunas Ilgauskas, the team also lost Shawn Kemp, Brevin Knight and Derek Anderson and enters the weekend having lost seven straight games, too. It was an admirable run while it lasted.

3. Shaddup Shaq

When told of criticism leveled at the Lakers by former greats Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain, Shaquille O'Neal grumbled, "My mother told me to leave the elderly alone." Had Shaq-like defense prevailed when Chamberlain was active, the Stilt would have scored 150 points in a game.

2. GeePee are you with them?

The Seattle SuperSonics point guard scored seven points in a 119-84 loss to the Trail Blazers Wednesday, then went into a postgame meltdown, imploring his agent, Eric Goodwin, to fix the situation in a profanity-filled tirade. Thursday, Payton said that he didn't want to be traded and planned on spending the rest of his career in Seattle. No matter what happens, Payton is expected to be a leader wherever he goes. He needs to start acting like one.

1. Another DWI for Strickland

He's a tremendous point guard. But he's also a tremendous pinhead if the current charges prove true.