Power Rankings: Spurs surviving the grind

[Hawksquawk]

The six weeks between New Year's Day and the All-Star break are an interesting time across the league. It's the stretch where teams really start to feel the grind of the season, traveling through frigid cities in their third month without much time off. You'll see some bad teams let go of the rope (not point any fingers here ... yet) and some good teams lose games they're not supposed to (OK, here I'm pointing at the Heat). View the full article

[Admin]

Our pace and offensive rating are better this year, with defense down a bit and net rating up slightly. Not bad considering we don't have Al this year.

Atlanta (20-18)
Pace: 96.9 (15), OffRtg: 103.4 (14), DefRtg: 101.8 (9), NetRtg: +1.5 (14)
Al Horford's injury has transformed the anonymous Mike Scott from a fringe rotation guy to a consistent contributor off the Hawks' bench. Scott has averaged12.0 points on 49 percent shooting in the nine games since Horford went down and had 29 in wins over the Pacers and Rockets last week, continuously beating Houston down the floor to help the Hawks erase an 11-0 deficit on Friday.
This week: vs. BKN (London)

Last year at this time...

Atlanta (21-15)
Pace: 93.7 (17), OffRtg: 101.8 (14), DefRtg: 100.6 (8), NetRtg: +1.2 (13)
A big fourth quarter got them a win against Utah on Friday, but the Hawks lost five of their last six and have the 26th ranked offense in January. They're shooting well, but their other numbers (offensive boards, free throws, turnovers) are all weak. So it's probably not a good time for three big games -- vs. Chicago and Brooklyn (x2) -- against teams they're fighting for playoff position with.

[macdaddy]

Beat Indy and Houston in the same week and slipped one in the power rankings. Well that sucks.

[PSSSHHHRRR87]

Just shows how bad the LEast is when they have a team in the West that's not even in the playoffs currently (Denver) ranked higher than our 3rd place Hawks. Whatever. As long as Brooklyn doesn't climb any higher...

[benhillboy]

I'm convinced the Spurs got some voodoo or something going on. Timmy gonna be 50 putting up double doubles. And is Pop getting younger and more fun-loving? I hope like hell they're back in the Finals or at least to the Conference. I know how phenomenal of a franchise they are, yet they still surprise me with this sh@t every year, running through the league like its practice.

Edited January 14, 2014 by benhillboy