Atlanta Hawks

Southeast Division

Atlanta Hawks Power Rankings - 2012-13

Power Ranking
WEEK	RECORD	RANK	COMMENT
Week 24	44-36	16	You've known them for years as the team that keeps hitting its head on the ceiling of the second round. These Hawks, though, can't even get that far. They've overachieved, frankly, to be as high as they are in what realistically was always going to be a stopgap season before a big summer.
Week 23	42-36	17	Remember up higher where we mentioned Memphis' seven wins this season when trailing in the final minute of regulation or overtime? The Hawks have a handy seven as well, tying them with the Grizzlies and Portland for second place in that category behind Miami's league-leading 11.
Week 22	41-33	13	Are they really No. 1 in the rankings for teams filled with guys on expiring deals while management plans for free agency? Or is it all because the Hawks live in the East? Seems like a three-team tournament with Utah and Dallas is in order ... no matter what happens in the West race for No. 8.
Week 21	39-31	13	Here's another Eastern Conference resident, like the Knicks, grateful no team outside of Miami can make the claim that it's playing well. Wins over the Lakers, Nets and Bucks (two) have kept the Hawks firmly in the hunt for home-court advantage in Round 1 despite a 1-7 start in March.
Week 20	37-29	12	It's a lot easier to pull off in the East than the West, true, but Atlanta has proven that you can stay competitive even with a team filled with guys on expiring contracts while you're planning ahead for free agency. The Mavs, who happen to be visiting town Monday night, are surely envious.
Week 19	34-28	16	More Al Horford props because we feel kinda guilty for talking so much all season about the Josh Smith situation: Horford is at 17.4 PPG, 10.1 RPG and 3.3 APG for the season. The last Hawk to do that for an entire season was Walt Bellamy way back in 1971-72 (18.6 PPG, 12.8 RPG and 3.2 APG).
Week 18	33-25	15	Remember last Monday's line about how the Hawks are 15-2 when Al Horford scores 20? The record isn't quite as gaudy after road L's to the Suns and Lakers dropped Atlanta to 17-4, but Horford has scored 20 or more in a career-high nine straight games. His previous longest run? Two.
Week 17	31-23	16	With so much focus on Josh Smith lately and whether Atlanta could find a trade partner to take on J-Smoove, we're all guilty of paying insufficient attention to Al Horford. The Hawks are 15-2 when Horford -- limited to only 11 games last season because of a muscle tear -- scores 20 or more.
Week 16	29-22	17	Al Horford, Jeff Teague and, yes, Josh Smith all had it going during the last 10 games before the break. But the Hawks were only 6-4 during that stretch ... with the longest week of the season ahead (for Smith especially) leading into the trade deadline. (Bo Churney, HawksHoop)
Week 15	27-22	20	Just don't see it. Just don't see the Hawks dealing Josh Smith before the Feb. 21 trade deadline when we all know they want to pursue Dwight Howard in free agency come July. If they're going after Dwight, keeping his good buddy J-Smoove around as lead recruiter only makes sense.
Week 14	26-20	18	That block Al Horford got away with to deny DeMar DeRozan, enrage Dwane Casey and clinch an Atlanta win? It made Horford the first player to be credited with two swats in the final 15 seconds of a one-point W since Ben Wallace did the same to the Raps exactly nine years earlier.
Week 13	25-19	17	Milestone roller coaster for the injury-hit Hawks over the weekend. The comeback from 19 points down against Boston is the biggest recovery from a halftime deficit for any team all season. But the loss to the Knicks was the club's first 60 percent shooting from the field since March 1981.
Week 12	22-18	20	Brave of Larry Drew to admit he's "got to find a way to resuscitate this team," since such comments tend to drive up the temperature on the coach's seat. Losing Lou Williams doesn't help, either, after the Hawks initially responded to the 58-point debacle in Chicago by toasting Brooklyn.
Week 11	21-15	18	Remember that 10-5 December? Feels like ages ago ... especially for Larry Drew. The solace of knowing that the Hawks have all that flexibility come summertime, no matter what happens now, provides scant comfort for a coach in the last year of his contract whose team is no longer overachieving.
Week 10	20-12	12	The Hawks just endured their worst week of the season thanks to a one-point loss in Detroit and a 33-9 drubbing in the third quarter the next night to blow a big lead at home to Boston. Amazing that it took this long, though, to see them slip out of the top five in defensive efficiency.
Week 9	19-9	8	The Hawks' prospects didn't look all that great back on opening night, when they surrendered 45 points to James Harden and lost at home. Yet they enter Monday night's rematch in Houston with the best road record in the East at 8-4 ... while Joe Johnson and the Nets try to dig out of disarray.
Week 8	16-9	8	I'm sure Larry Drew would rather have a contract extension than Trimester props, but we'll get back to serious Hawks issues next Monday. Couldn't resist hat-tipping Reebok, in the Christmas spirit, for bringing back Dominique Wilkins' Pump Twilight Zone sneaks to honor one of our faves.
Week 7	14-7	8	The Hawks bookended last week with L's in the games that meant most, first dropping a divisional showdown in Miami and ultimately getting routed at home by scorching Golden State. Yet they remain a top-five defensive team, thus upholding their status as one of the season's big early surprises.
Week 6	12-5	7	Trivia time: Can you name the only team that has held every foe below 50 percent from the floor this season? Answer: It's the one and only team out there that can claim road victories at OKC and Memphis. Even more good news for the Hawks: Josh Smith, as requested here, is picking it up.
Week 5	9-5	10	The Hawks moved up to a lofty No. 7, in spite of a mostly soft schedule, because of their stingy D and one quality W over the Clips. They slide back down now because the schedule delivered another inviting week that the Hawks squandered by splitting at home against Charlotte and Cleveland.
Week 4	8-4	7	The Hawks have risen to No. 1 in the league in defensive efficiency. And they likewise climb in our top 10, in spite of a mostly soft schedule, thanks to a home win over the Clips that -- even with L.A. on the second night of a back-to-back -- still looks pretty nice beside Atlanta's recent W at OKC.
Week 3	4-4	9	All the fantasy trade scenarios in the world don't change the fact Josh Smith isn't quite playing up to J-Smoove standards. Too many jumpers, too many missed FTs, not enough of the good stuff. He'll always get extra leeway from the lefty-loving committee (of one), but we need to see more, too.
Week 2	2-3	12	The Lakers' coaching change probably affects Atlanta more than any other team in the East. Reason being: No matter how many times Danny Ferry insists he's not in a rush to bring in Mike Brown as his next coach or trade Josh Smith for Pau Gasol, speculation will surely keep coming up.
Week 1	1-1	8	The opener was bizarre: Atlanta surrendered 45 points at home to James Harden and lost Josh Smith to an ankle sprain in the process. The response made about as much sense: Jeff Teague soaring over Durant for a top-shelf dunk and the Josh-less Hawks winning in OKC.
Preseason	0-0	13	Not quite ready to co-sign on the notion that the Hawks are still a top-five team in the East. But still a playoff team? In this conference? Still a top-eight team, yes, while in the midst of stockpiling cap space for next summer. (Unless trades present themselves sooner.)
Training Camp	40-26	18	It won't show up in the standings right away, but the Hawks were one of the unquestioned offseason winners on this scorecard when Danny Ferry jettisoned Joe Johnson (and more). I'd rather start over, as Atlanta will now do, than pointlessly keep banging my head on a second-round ceiling.