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The Hawks have had a rough road trip so far with a couple of heartbreaking losses in Sacramento and Phoenix. The good news is that Dennis Schroder finally looks like a professional basketball player again, but the bad is that Jeff Teague has gone cold. Before I get carried away with how polarizing the point guard play has been, let's get to this week's power rankings
John Schuhmann of NBA.com gets things started by moving the Hawks up one spot to No. 9 in this week's ranking.
The Hawks had a couple of heartbreaking losses in Sacramento on Thursday and Phoenix on Saturday, getting beat by a Rajon Rondo layupand an Archie Goodwin three. But early-game offense (which put them in holes of 15-plus points in both games) was more to blame than late-game defense as they fell to 3-6 in January against teams with losing records. They've been the second best fourth-quarter team in the league.
Marc Stein of ESPN.com drops the Hawks one spot this week to No. 9
The alibi is there if they want it because the Hawks' most likely All-Star, Paul Millsap, missed the game for personal reasons, but losing in Phoenix to a Suns team that had dropped 14 of its previous 15 games (and with a slew of its own injuries) is going to leave a mark. It'll take a win Monday night in the Rocky Mountain altitude of Denver for Atlanta to salvage a .500 trip.
SI.com's Jeremy Woo drops the Hawks to No. 8 in his latest ranking.
Three-point road losses to the Kings and Suns hurt, andJeff Teague couldn't produce double-digit points in neither game. An All-Star last year, Teague’s in the midst of his worst statistical season since 2012. A hungry Dennis Schroder lurks in the shadows.
Matt Moore of CBSsports.computs the Hawks at No. 10 this week.
Every year they go on this west coast road trip in the winter and every year they wind up walking out of it shell-shocked like they've seen things no NBA team should see. I'm not worried about them, because this happens almost every year.
USAToday.com makes a reference to Grant Hill as the Hawks are put at No. 7.
Grant Hill says healing has begun in Atlanta
Finally, Kurt Helin of NBCsports.com puts the Hawks at No. 7 this week.
Jeff Teague has not been the same of late (10.5 points, 4.3 assists per game shooting 38 percent in January), so him admitting he’s playing through an ankle injury helps explain some things. That means moreDennis Schroder for your fantasy team, but it’s not good for picking up wins.
That does it for this week's rankings and despite having a rough road trip with some close games, the Hawks managed to stay in the top 10. Hopefully, Atlanta can make a move when they return home this week.
As always leave your thoughts and comments below.