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Another week is in the books and another set of power rankings are out across the internet. The Hawks only played 2 games this week and ended up winning and losing a game. Anyway let's get started and take a look at where the writers across the nation rank our Atlanta Hawks.
To start things off, Drew Garrison of SBNation.com puts the Hawks at #16.
The Hawks played just two games this week, giving the Lakers their second win of the season in one of them. As usual, the Hawks are in the middle of the Eastern Conference playoff bracket. Death, taxes, etc.
Marc Stein of ESPN.com drops the Hawks to #19 and isn't impressed.
Pardon us if we don't agree with the rising notion that the Leastern Conference is exceeding expectations. The Hawks are a No. 5 seed on this Monday with the league's 24th-ranked defense and an average scoring margin of minus-0.3. Ten teams in the West have an average point margin in the green.
Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports puts the Hawks at #16 and thinks this week will be a good test.
The Hawks have a challenging Eastern Conference back-to-back at Washington on Tuesday and against Toronto on Wednesday.
John Schuhmann of NBA.com also puts the Hawks at #16 this week.
Jeff Teague carried the offense on Friday, but the Hawks really needed a decent defensive performance after allowing the Cavs and Lakers to score about 125 points per 100 possessions in their previous two games. Of course, holding the Pistons' 27th-ranked offense under a point per possession isn't necessarily a decent defensive performance.
Matt Dollinger of SI.com puts the Hawks at #14 and says some nice things about one of the best shooters in the league.
Kyle Korver might be the anti-Josh Smith. Anytime Korver doesn't shoot a three it's a bad shot. The Hawks' marksman is shooting 56.7 percent from deep (and hitting 3.1 triples per game) and just a paltry 37.5 percent on twos.
Kurt Helin of NBCSports.com puts the Hawks right in the middle at #15.
There have been things to like with the Hawks this season — hello Jeff Teague, we’re looking at you — but we are going to get a better sense of them with tough week ahead — the Wizards, Raptors, Pelicans and Hornets. (Well, not so much the Hornets lately.)
That does it for this week in the rankings. The Hawks have a very good chance to move up this week with the number of games that are on the schedule. Anyway let me know what you guys think in the comment section below.