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So life after Horford isn't so bad because writers are starting to respect this team sinceMWE they are holding steady and beating tough teams without arguably their best player. Mike Scott and Pero Antic are just some of the names that have turned it on and played really well as of late. Outside of losing of dropping a game to Memphis, this team has had some strong wins this past week which include two home games to the Pacers and the Rockets. So with this in mind, let's see where the Hawks are placed this week in the rankings.
Jason Patt of SBNation.com places the Hawks at #14 after moving them up 4 spots from last week.
The Hawks came up with two huge wins last week, beating the Pacers and Rockets. Unfortunately, that was followed up by a loss at Memphis. But hey, Kyle Korver's streak is still going strong!
John Schuhmann of NBA.com puts the Hawks at #13 and mentions the rise of Mike "Mike Scott" Scott.
Al Horford's injury has transformed the anonymous Mike Scott from a fringe rotation guy to a consistent contributor off the Hawks' bench. Scott has averaged 12.0 points on 49 percent shooting in the nine games since Horford went down and had 29 in wins over the Pacers and Rockets last week, continuously beating Houston down the floor to help the Hawks erase an 11-0 deficit on Friday.
Kurt Helin of NBCSports.com moves the Hawks up a spot this week to #11.
Just one game this week, against the Nets in London. We’ll see how they do across the pond, at home they are playing very well right now with wins over Houston and Indiana in Phillips Arena last week.
Marc Stein of ESPN.com moves Atlanta up a few spots after admitting it was wrong to just assume the Hawks were dead.
Atlanta just beat Indiana and Houston back-to-back at home to move to 9-2 in its past 11 Philips Center engagements ... with the only losses coming to Golden State and OKC. Popular as it is to proclaim these guys toast after losing Al Horford, Kyle Korver and his Hawks don't seem to be listening.
Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports keeps the Hawks at #11 and reminds the fans that they are facing off against former All-Star Guard Joe Johnson.
Atlanta faces former Hawks guard Joe Johnson and the Nets at 3 p.m. ET at O2 Arena in London.
Everyone's favorite troll at CBSsports.com drops the Hawks to #17 in weekly ranking despite 2 strong wins at home and because Matt Moore he must have just found out about the Horford injury.
Mike Budenholzer has a team without its clear-cut best player still fighting for a playoff spot. He and Tom Thibodeau should open a bar together.
The guys over at USAtoday.com wonder if the streak will ever end as they put our team at #10.
Office pool idea: When will Kyle Korver's three-point streak end?
Matt Dollinger of SI.com keeps Atlanta at #15 and mentions how well the Hawks have played defensively this week in the absence of Horford.
The Hawks held Roy Hibbert and Dwight Howard to a combined 17 points last week despite Al Horford's absence. Although Atlanta is without its defensive anchor, it's giving up just 100.3 points per 100 possessions over its last five games, a slight improvement from its ninth-ranked season mark of 101.8.
Well that's it for this week in the rankings. The Hawks managed to stay steady in the records and in the rankings this week. With only one game this week which is in London, I don't think a change to happen in the rankings unless there is a blowout and we drop. Anyway let me know what you guys think of the rankings this week in the comments.