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Everyone, the streak has ended and it is time to celebrate. Thanks to the heroics of Mike Scott, Jeff Teague and DeMarre Carroll, the depleted Hawks managed to not get nine-straight losses in a row. With the Hawks on a fresh one-game winning streak, let's take a look at where this team is ranked in this week's power rankings.
First on the list: Jason Patt of SBNation.com places the Hawks at #18 and gives his praises to Mike "Mike Scott" Scott.
Mike Scott apparently really likes playing the Knicks. After setting a career-high in points against New York last year, Scott did it again last week, pouring in 30 points in a big comeback victory.
The guys over at USAToday.com also place the Hawks at #18 while mentioning the struggle at the center position.
It is easier to win when at least a few of your centers are healthy.
John Schuhmann of NBA.com drop the Hawks to #18 and makes a mention of our tough upcoming road schedule.
As the Hawks lost eight straight and sunk from third to eighth in the East, the injuries (to Gustavo Ayon and Paul Millsap) kept piling up. A game against the defenseless Knicks offered some temporary relief, but after they host the Bulls on Tuesday, they play six straight on the road. The best team they've beat on the road this season is the 27-30 Bobcats, and that win was in early November.
Matt Moore of CBSSports.com makes a mention of the Hawks' injury situation after moving us to the #18 spot.
Very quietly, they've gotten up there with the Lakers and Bulls for most injured, but Mike Budenholzer has them holding onto the rope.
Jimmy Spencer of FOXSports.com also moves the Hawks to #18 but also mentions a great point about the team being only good enough to lose to either the Heat or Pacers in the playoffs.
Everyone saw the value in the signing of Paul Millsap this offseason. His first All-Star selection was well deserved, and he’s been fantastic for the Hawks. But, the Hawks' hopes of being an authentic player in the East faded when Al Horford went down. The Hawks are still treading water thanks to coach Mike Budenholzer, but Atlanta appears only good enough to fall to either Indy or Miami in the playoffs
Marc Stein of ESPN.com surprisingly moves us up to................wait for it.........the #18 spot and mentions how bad the injuries have hurt us.
They still had enough to beat the Knicks in New York on Saturday night -- handing Melo & Co. their 18th loss at Madison Square Garden in 30 home dates this season -- but the Hawks are clearly in free fall. Atlanta dropped the previous eight games, and its injury situation is getting worse.
Next up Matt Dollinger of SI.com manages to change things up and move the Hawks to the #19 spot.
If there's one current playoff team in the East that's likely to fall out of contention the next two months, it's the depleted Hawks. Atlanta stopped an eight-game losing streak with a comeback victory over the Knicks on Saturday, but the Hawks begin a difficult six-game road trip this week.
Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports also puts the Hawks at #19 in his weekly ranking.
The Hawks have gone from holding down the third seed in the East for a while to eighth spot after losing eight of their past 10 games.
Finally, Kurt Helin of NBCSports.com drops the Hawks to another #18 spot and wonders if they will also drop out of the playoffs.
This is a team falling fast, snapping their eight-game losing streak against the Knicks but with All-Star Paul Millsap out (at least a couple more games with a knee bruise) you have to wonder if they can hold off the Pistons (3.5 games back) or Cleveland (5 back).
Well that does it for this week in the rankings. It seems that many writers are just determined to put the Hawks at #18 after having a rough couple of weeks mainly due to injuries. The upcoming set of road games will be tough because there is a chance we might see another streak of losses. Anyway as always let me know what you guys think about the ranking. Do we deserve to be much lower or should we be higher just because the injuries have messed up this team?