NBA Power Rankings Roundup: The Final Stretch

This has been a difficult week as a Hawks fan and sadly it had nothing to do with on the court performance.  The controversy with Thabo Sefolosha has been discussed at great length and honestly, if it weren't for the play of  Mike Muscala then I would be depressed. Anyway here we have the latest power ranking roundup as we get close to the end of the season.

First up, Drew Garrison of SB Nation slots the Hawks at No. 3 on his latest scale.

Atlanta enjoyed its first 60-win season in franchise history and will be the only team in the Eastern Conference to do so this year. The Hawks have soared into control of the East, but they're still waiting on Paul Millsap to make his return from injury. Losing Thabo Sefolosha through the playoffs to an ankle injury via the NYPD isn't ideal either.

The Hawks hold steady at No. 2 in USATODAY.com's latest offering.

They have best record in franchise history. Can they follow up with great playoff run?

John Schuhmann of NBA.com moves the Hawks up to No. 3 and mentions Thabo in his ranking.

Thabo Sefolosha's injury is tough to swallow in regard to both how it happened and what it means for a potential Hawks-Cavs, conference finals matchup. Sefolosha was a part of a second unit that built on leads with defense (the defensive numbers were best when he was on the floor) and would have been a long defender to throw at LeBron James.

CBSSports' Matt Moore ranks the Hawks at No. 2 in his end of the season power ranking.

People that say they're challenging the idea you don't need stars don't realize how good their stars are.

Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports keeps Atlanta at No. 7.

The recent incident outside of a New York nightclub that led to Thabo Sefolosha breaking his fibula is a huge defensive loss for Atlanta.

ESPN.com's Marc Stein puts the Hawks at No. 5 and celebrates the 60 win season.

There are loads of numbers, be it nightly PPG margin or net efficiency, floating around to assert that the Hawks rank as one of the weakest 60-win teams ever. Fine. We're here to celebrate what they achieved during an extraordinary regular season ... and at least try to drown out all the recent bad injury news.

SI.com's Matt Dollinger moves the Hawks up to No. 5 in his latest rankings.

Atlanta has endured off-the-court distractions before this season, but the timing of Thabo Sefolosha’s injury is also a blow to the team’s on-the-court product. Sefolosha had struggled with his shot this season, but is a proven defender with valuable postseason experience, playing in the last five playoffs with OKC.

Finally, ProBasketballTalk's Kurt Helin keeps Atlanta at No. 4 in his final regular season ranking.

There are a lot of questions about how it happened off the court, but the Thabo Sefolosha injury really hurts the Hawks in a potential matchup with the Cavaliers. He would have seen a fair amount of time on LeBron James, plus his defense was key to their stingy second unit.

That does it for the rankings and as always leave your thoughts in the comments.