The Atlanta Hawks are now 6-1 without Al Horford in the lineup and the result is the Hawks inching their way back up various power rankings around the internet. SB Nation's Tom Ziller moves the Hawks up two spots this week to No. 8 after a 3-1 week.
| 8. | Atlanta Hawks | 12-5 | W: TOR, POR, CLE; L: PHI | Peachtree Hoops |
| The Hawks aren't just treading water without Al Horford: they are bobbing above the water and possibly playing with a beach ball, as well. | ||||
Atlanta jumps up three spots to No. 10 in John Schuhmann's rankings at NBA.com. Schuhmann writes that is time to stop trying to figure out the Hawks.
Atlanta (12-5)
Pace: 92.6 (23), Off: 103.5 (8), Def: 95.6 (5)
There's no point in trying to figure out the Hawks, who are now 5-1 without Al Horford, allowing fewer than 94 points per 100 possessions. Offensively, Jeff Teague has improved, averaging 14.7 points on 48 percent shooting in the six games. Atlanta is 8-1 at home, but begins a five-game trip on Monday.
Marc Stein of ESPN.com also moves Atlanta up three spots to No. 9 this week in his weekly rankings. Stein's cites Larry Drew's dressing down of the team after the Philadelphia loss and how the Hawks responded with a blow out win over the Cavaliers.
Apologies to the Hawks. They've mostly beaten up on patsies in this 5-1 run without Al Horford, but there's been no dip from them yet. Larry Drew actually called them out for some surrender signs in Friday's loss in Philly ... and they responded by shredding Cleveland by 27.
New to the round up this week is Chris Sheridan's rankings and he is the only one to actually drop the Hawks this week despite going 3-1. Atlanta falls from No. 9 to No. 11.
AST WEEK: 3-1 THIS WEEK: 3 games KEY GAME: WED at SA
Number of quality wins has now jumped to 3, thanks to victory over Portland. Next 5 are on the road, but 4 look winnable. Kudos to Larry Drew for not letting the Al Horford injury devastate them mentally, and for challenging team by calling them quitters after loss to 76ers. When Joe Johnson scores 21 or more, they are 8-0.
Sheridan did point out that the Hawks are undefeated when Joe Johnson scores at least 21 points. That improved to 9-0 after Monday's victory over Milwaukee.
The Hawks rank No. 4 in John Hollinger's ESPN.com Daily Power Rankings trailing only Chicago, Miami and Philadelphia.
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