Atlanta plays seven of its next eight games on the road starting with Friday night's early-season Southeast Division showdown against the Charlotte Hornets.
Playing without center Dwight Howard and key reserve Thabo Sefolosha, the Hawks stretched their streak to six games with a 107-100 home victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday after winning at Miami the previous night.
Both could be back to face the Hornets, who are coming off a 115-108 victory at Minnesota on Tuesday.
With the back-to-back games, the Hawks didn't practice on Thursday in Atlanta, meaning there was no injury update and Howard's status might not be known until shortly before the opening tip.
Howard, who was walking without a noticeable limp after Wednesday's win, suffered a left quad contusion when kneed by Heat center Hassan Whiteside in the third quarter of the victory at Miami.
"There has been a positive response, positive progress," coach Mike Budenholzer said Wednesday.
Mike Muscala scored 16 points while filling in for Howard against the Bucks and the bench, led by Tim Hardaway Jr., still made a major contribution despite the absence of veteran Sefolosha, who sat out with a mild knee sprain.
"Muskie continues to play really well," Budenholzer said. "It's interesting for him to play (33) minutes. It's a good thing the game ended at 48 (minutes). He gave us all he had."
The victory coupled with a Cleveland loss tied the Hawks for the best record in the Eastern Conference at 9-2 and gave them their best start to a season since they were 11-2 in 2009-10.
The Hornets have the third best record in the East at 7-3 after overcoming a 12-point halftime deficit at Minnesota with a 36-17 third-quarter blitz after coach Steve Clifford gave the team a tongue-lashing at the break.
"It was perfect timing, and we needed it," Hornets guard Kemba Walker after the game. "We just (weren't) ourselves, and he got into us a little bit. It worked out for us, because we needed to pick our energy up."
Walker, averaging 25.8 points, scored 30 against Minnesota and also had six assists, five rebounds and five steals.
The Hawks won three of the four games against the Hornets last season, including two in the first week of the season by a combined five points. The lone win by the Hornets came at Charlotte in January when Walker hit 4 of 6 3-pointers en route to 23 points.
The Hornets haven't received the regular bench play to match the Hawks this season, but Frank Kaminsky had 20 points against Minnesota. The Hornets were hoping Jeremy Lamb might return against Atlanta after missing seven games with a strained hamstring but announced Thursday he will not play.
The Hawks have shot 50 percent while winning by an average of 10 points during their streak, and had 29 assists on 35 baskets against the Bucks. Taking care of the basketball, though, remains an issue.
The Hawks have had as many as 24 turnovers in a game and committed 16 against Milwaukee after 19 at Miami.
"It's a bad trend that you have to take note of," Budenholzer said. "We play with a lot of freedom, with a lot of ball movement. So if that's what you embrace, there may some more margin for error. But I think we've taken that margin to an extreme and I think everybody wants to reduce it. If we can do that, it will help us significantly."
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