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Well it's been a rough season and a rough couple of games for the Hawks and their fans. Atlanta has dropped 3 straight and also has had to deal with numerous injuries in this final month of the season. With only 4 games left in this season, we can only hope that the fallen will recover enough in time for our first round matchup that is beginning to look like the Pacers. Anyway, Marc Stein of ESPN.com will get us started with the ranking for this week.
Remember up higher where we mentioned Memphis' seven wins this season when trailing in the final minute of regulation or overtime? The Hawks have a handy seven as well, tying them with the Grizzlies and Portland for second place in that category behind Miami's league-leading 11.
Next John Schumann of NBA.com drops us after our tough week.
Is Devin Harris the key to the Hawks having a chance in the first round? They're 33-22 in games he's played, 22-9 in games he's started, and, amazingly, 16-2 in games he's played at least 28 minutes. The Hawks have been much better, both offensively and defensively, with Harris on the floor and have dropped three straight without him. Dealing with a sore foot, he could be back Wednesday
Matt Dollinger of SI.com drops us and mentions our lineup changes.
The Hawks unveiled their 27th different starting lineup last week after only using 11 different ones all of last season. Larry Drew's been forced to deal with a painful amount of injuries plus a revolving door at the wing positions. Earlier this year, the Hawks became the first team since 2010-11 to use a different starting lineup in 10 straight games. Its most effective starting five by far this season has been the combination of Al Horford, Josh Smith, Kyle Korver, Devin Harris and Jeff Teague. The Hawks are 9-5 with those five starting the game and should have them, barring any late developments, healthy heading into the postseason.
Well that's it for this week in the rankings. It seems that our recent troubles and injury situation has really hurt the team in the standings and in the power rankings. So now that the playoff picture is starting to become clear, who do you guys think we will end up facing and is there a chance that our players will be able to recover in time?