In the offseason, the Eastern Conference's elite teams made the most noise in an effort to remain elite. 

The Cavaliers traded for Shaquille O'Neal. The Celtics signed Rasheed Wallace. The Magic dealt for Vince Carter. And all three teams added extra pieces to fill out their roster and make a run at the title. 

The Atlanta Hawks did some maneuvering of their own, although without as much noise. They traded for combo guard Jamal Crawford, signed a couple of aging bigs and drafted Jeff Teague. 

Nice moves, without a doubt. But enough to get inside the velvet rope? Not likely. 

While Atlanta's moves may have been under the radar, it is the Cavaliers, Celtics and Magic who are under the Hawks in the standings. And the Hawks may have enough to permanently crash the party. 

"They’re playing some of the best basketball in the league right now," Hornets coach Jeff Bower said after his team was run out of Philips Arena. 

The Hawks no longer are content to end a postseason drought or win a playoff series, which is what they have done over the last two years. They want more and believe they can get it. 

"They’re playing for something and that’s what all about at this stage," said coach Mike Woodson, whose team appears on target to raise its win total for the fifth straight season. "Expectations are high this year." 

The Hawks are 10-2, the best record in the NBA. As a team and individuals, they are quickly shedding their image as a group that puts flash before fundamentals and cannot win the character-testing games, especially on the road. 

Atlanta already has beaten Portland twice, Boston on the road, Denver and Miami. It has climbed nearly nine points per game from 19th to fourth in offense and 6.7 points in differential from 11th to second. 

But that's not the best part. Atlanta won at Portland and beat Denver with offense, used rebounding to beat Boston, and shut down Miami with defense. 

But that's not the best part. The best part is they appear to be over themselves.

"We’re really not focused on being at the top of the hill, we’re just focused on winning games," said forward Josh Smith, one of the Hawks who is showing newfound maturity. 

"The Hawks are playing good basketball, and the entire team is getting involved," Hornets forward Peja Stojakovic said. "Right now they’re on a roll. You have to give them credit." 

Some of the credit should go to GM Rick Sund, whose additions have been a far better early fit than those in Cleveland, Boston and Orlando. 

O'Neal is laboring against the pick-and-roll and injured again. Doc Rivers already has told Wallace he is shooting too many 3-pointers, an issue at the end of his tenure in Detroit. And Orlando has been too banged up to see if all of their pieces really fit together. 

Atlanta's primary spark has come from Crawford, who has the inside track to the Sixth Man Award. He is averaging 16.1 points in less than 29 minutes and has bumped forward Marvin Williams from Woodson's closing five. 

With Crawford on the floor, the Hawks are difficult to double because they have five scorers, four of whom can take defenders off the dribble. He had big games in Portland and Sacramento on Atlanta's road trip, providing his customary offensive spark often overlooked because he has spent his entire career on bad teams. 

"With Jamal added to our ballclub, it brings a different dimension to our team, in terms of a guy coming off that can score the ball," Woodson said. 

Forward Joe Smith also moved right into the rotation, offering solid post defense and giving Al Horford, Josh Smith and Zaza Pachulia the freedom to play more aggressively on defense without the fear of foul trouble. 

Smith and Jason Collins - another strong post defender - haven't yet been tested by O'Neal or Orlando's Dwight Howard, the reason they were signed. And the true test may not come until the postseason. 

But the Hawks have been tested in other ways this season, and they have passed with flying colors. In addition to the successful trip that answered some of the questions about their pedestrian 16-25 road mark of a season ago, they also are testing each other and themselves. 

In the preseason, All-Star swingman Joe Johnson declared that he would be testing free agency, a bold and potentially disenfranchising declaration from a player considered below the top tier of free agents next summer. 

Johnson then went to work on justifying his desire for a second max deal. Along with his 23.6 points - two points better than last season - and a rebounding pace that would be the best of his career, he has called out his teammates for selfish play, not once, but twice. 

In years past, that would have started an infighting session lasting until January. Instead, the Hawks have responded by playing for each other, rather than just with each other. 

"That just shows the growth and maturity of this team," Smith said. "We’ve come a long way." 

Perhaps no one has come a longer way than Smith, whose feuds with Woodson over the last couple of years have been well-documented. But this season, Smith - who is still just 23 - has decided to look in the mirror instead of pointing a finger. 

In less minutes, Smith is averaging more points (16.3), rebounds (9.3),  assists (4.2) and steals (1.80) than last season. He is 15th in boards and steals and second in blocks (2.50). 

But perhaps Smith's most significant number is 1 - the number of 3-pointers he has attempted this season. After hoisting an average of 1.2 threes per game for his career - and making just 27 percent of them - Smith did not fire one until Wednesday's win over Miami, and it came at the end of the first half in an attempt to beat the buzzer. 

As a result, Smith's field-goal percentage has soared to .563, good for 12th in the league. Despite his hyperactivity around the rim, he never has made more than half his shots. 

Although the numbers don't reflect it because the Hawks are playing at a faster pace than last season, their defense has improved as well. They know it, and their opponents know it. 

"They really know how to use their length and athleticism," Bower said. "It’s impressive how good they are defensively."  

"Guys have figured that when we play defense at a high level we’re a tough team to beat," Williams said. "We have a lot of guys that score the ball, but when we really defend it makes our team that much tougher to beat." 

The Hawks did that Wednesday, limiting superstar Dwyane Wade to 15 points on 6-of-18 shooting. 

"Atlanta forces me to become more of a jump shooter," Wade admitted. "They know that once I’m in the paint, I become a playmaker, so they did a good job of forcing me out of the paint. You have to be smart when you play them, because they are a very athletic team, and they will meet you at the rim." 

There is a lot of season left, but the Hawks have all of the elements of a true contender - a blend of youth and experience, multiple weapons, good depth, a solid defense to fall back on and - most important - unselfishness. 

About the only thing they don't have is the attention of their fans. The Hawks are 6-0 at Philips Arena despite ranking 17th in home attendance and 14th in capacity percentage. 

That's not really a surprise in passive Atlanta, which has already seen one NHL team up and leave and failed to fill Turner Field for a number of Braves' playoff games in the 1990s. Hopefully, the locals will start to notice what the rest of the league has already acknowledged. 

"It's just beautiful basketball right now," Smith said.

Chris Bernucca has covered the NBA since 1996 and is a staff writer for Pro Basketball News. You can disagree with him at cbernucca@comcast.net.