NBA Power Rankings: Hawks move up after close to perfect week

Well here we have it, another week in basketball and another week for the NBA power rankings.  The Hawks had a decent week and look to move up overall in the rankings.  Let's see where the writers around the nation rank the Hawks this week.

Drew Garrison of SB Nation puts the Hawks at #16.

It was a great week for Atlanta, rattling off a nice three-game winning streak before dropping one to LeBron James. They'll feast on the Lakers and Pistons, and their lone road game until Dec. 3 is in Washington D.C. against the Wizards. Al Horford is playing the lowest minutes of his career (29.4 per game), yet the Hawks are hanging in there.

Marc Stein of ESPN.com also puts the Hawks at #16 and mentions that ugly loss.

The Hawks quietly assembled a useful little four-game winning streak until the Cavs hit them with a 9-for-9 haymaker from the 3-point line in the first quarter Saturday night. That's the most 3s without a miss for one team in a single quarter since the NBA ushered in the 3-point shot in 1979-80.

John Schuhmann of NBA.com moves the Hawks up to #15 and makes mention of how the Hawks can be a threat later in the year.

Because Al Horford still isn't 100 percent, the Hawks' defense is suffering and Pero Antic has been on the floor down the stretch of some close games. But Horford's jumper is fine, and he's already back among the league's best mid-range shooters at 32-for-58 (55 percent) between the paint and 3-point line. Only Dirk Nowitzki has been better at a high volume.

Kurt Helin of NBCsports.com moves the Hawks to #16 as well.

This is a team getting nice play out of Jeff Teague and Al Horfordon offense, plus they are moving the ball and as a team assisting on 2/3 of their buckets. However, their bottom 10 defense so far has them hanging around .500.

Matt Dollinger of SI.com moves the Hawks up to #14 and makes notice of the offense.

The ball movement in Atlanta is a sight to behold. The Hawks are registering assists on a league-best 67.1 percent of their baskets. The Hawks might not have a traditional star, but their balanced offense makes up for their lack of a volume scorer.

Matt Moore of CBSSports.com moves Atlanta all the way up to #10.

They looked really good until the Cavs game, which was like making the final interview and then being asked about a weird night in Tijuana that popped up on your background check. Atlanta will be at the top of the second tier in the East if healthy. Jeff Teague, in particular, has been great.

And finally Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports puts the Hawks at #16 and mentions the almost forgotten man....unless you are on PTH daily.

Guard John Jenkins scored 12 points in a loss to the Cavs on Saturday in his first game since having back surgery in February.

That's it for the rankings this week and we see that the Hawks have moved up across the board.  The upcoming week will be interesting and if the Hawks do what they are supposed to do they could move up possibly in or close to the top 10.  Anyway let me know of your thoughts in the comments.