It has been a rough week for us Hawks fans. We have seen three overtimes that I am sure led to many Hawks fans to have heart attacks only to find out that Al Horford tore his pectoral muscle and will more than likely miss the rest of the season. This week has been a rather stressful week for me in terms of being a Hawks fan, but let's see where our team is ranked in this week's power ranking roundup.
First Jason Patt of SBNation.com drops us to the #15 spot.
The Al Horford injury is simply devastating. The Hawks were playing some excellent ball before Horford went down, and now they're destined for mediocrity. On a more positive note, Kyle Korver has now hit a three in 100 straight games.
John Schuhmann of NBA.com drops us a spot that I can't help but think is a result of Horford getting injured.
The Hawks have been the most improved team from November to December, making Al Horford's injury a little more painful. They may be able to survive offensively, especially if Pero Antic can hit some more ridiculous shots. But, as we saw when the Magic scored 30 points in two different quarters on Sunday, they're going to struggle to get stops without their anchor. The 3 seed is up for grabs.
Next on the list Matt Dollinger of SI.com moves us down to #12 but thinks we will still be in the playoffs.
Losing Al Horford deals a devastating blow to the Hawks, but not their playoff hopes. Atlanta doesn't have anyone who can come close to replacing Horford's production, but the team's remaining pieces are likely still competent enough to hang with the East's middle class.
Over at USAToday.com, they move us down to #10 and even makes a funny point about Al getting hurt.
Al Horford can't even get the spotlight when he gets hurt, overshadowed by Russell Westbrook.
Matt Moore of CBSSports.com chooses to make a movie reference when talking about the Hawks as he drops us down to #13 in his latest ranking.
You know how Joss Whedon likes to kill off characters just when you've become super-attached to them? Joss Whedon definitely wrote the Al Horford injury into this storyline.
Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports actually moves us up a spot to #11 and says that Elton Brand is going to have to step up after the loss of Big Al.
Atlanta needs Elton Brand to step up. He is averaging five points and three rebounds in the past two games with injured center Al Horford out indefinitely.
Finally, Marc Stein of ESPN.com drops us five spots to #14 and well feels bad for us fans after hearing about the injury.
Words can't do justice to the one-legged fallaway Pero Antic sank to force OT in an eventual win over Charlotte. Trouble is Al Horford's latest torn pectoral muscle -- like the repeat injuries suffered by D-Rose, Kobe, Brook Lopez and Westbrook -- leaves you the wrong kind of speechless.
Well that does it for the rankings this week. As we see, the Hawks have mostly fallen back in the rankings and that's probably because Horford got hurt. I am certain that if Al didn't end up getting injured, we would see our team in the top 10.
Anyway, let me know what you guys think. Should we have fallen because of Horford getting injured and should his injury count towards the "weekly" part of the power rankings? Let me know in the comments below.