Peachtree Hoops: Power rankings roundup: The aftermath of a losing streak

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Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports

Let’s take a look at where the Hawks rank in this week’s power ranking roundup.

It’s been tough for the Atlanta Hawks in recent days. No scratch that, it has basically rock bottom for the Hawks — at least prior to Monday’s win — and painful to watch some of these games.

We’ve seen a variety of losses in the recent past, varying from losing down the stretch in overtime all the way to record setting blowout losses. The good news is that that the Hawks can only go up from here.

With that all said, the Hawks are officially at the bottom of the power rankings for John Schuhmann of NBA.com at No. 30 overall.

The Hawks have the league’s first double-digit losing streak of the season. Over the last two weeks, they’ve held second-half leads over the Bucks (twice), Raptors, Wolves and Pacers, but the streak also includes two of the three worst margins of defeat this season (49 and 47 points). They’re in the bottom five in three of the four factors on defense, dead last in defensive rebounding percentage, having allowed at least 10 offensive rebounds in 10 of their last 12 games and grabbed 69.6% of available defensive boards. That latter number has been just 64.1% in 228 total minutes with their current starting frontline - Jabari Parker and Damian Jones - on the floor. The Hawks’ December schedule includes only two games against teams that currently rank in the top 10 offensively and they’ll face two bottom-10 offenses this week.

The Hawks also fall to No. 30 in the latest ranking at CBS Sports.

Who would have thought that after starting the season 2-0, the Hawks would only get two more wins in their next 18 games? The losing streak is now up to 10, with the most recent being a 47-point loss in which James Harden dropped 60 points in three quarters. Atlanta is eagerly awaiting the end of John Collins’ suspension, which will come in late December, and could use a healthy Kevin Huerter to help space the floor and give Trae Young more room to operate.--

The good folks at ESPN break the trend and put Atlanta at No. 28 this week.

It has to be hard for Trae Young to enjoy his success in November with the Hawks mired in a 10-game losing streak. Young averaged 28.9 points, 8.7 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 3.4 3-pointers made per game in November. Meanwhile, Atlanta has not won a game since Nov. 12. -- Spears

Sports Illustrated also puts Atlanta at No. 28, even though they do bring up some thoughts on the recent defensive issues.

Atlanta is a mess defensively by nearly any metric. The Hawks allow the third-most threes and the fifth-most offensive rebounds, leading to the league’s No. 29 defensive rating. This is to be expected when Trae Young and Jabari Parker share the floor, and such units are the ones that allow 60 points on 24 shots. James Harden absolutely shredded Atlanta on Saturday night.

Finally, Yahoo puts Atlanta at No. 28 while pointing out the absurd offensive stats from Trae Young recently.

Over the Hawks last five games, Trae Young is averaging 36.4 points (in 36.9 minutes) to go along with 4.8 rebounds, 7.8 assists and 5.0 made 3PT’s, while shooting 50.4% from the floor, 47.2% from downtown and 94.9% from the free-throw stripe.

Well there you have it, this week’s ranking in the books.

Just by the look of it, Atlanta could do worse by finishing No. 30 across the board. However, they averaged out at about No. 29 this week. Hopefully, with some of the upcoming opponents, the Hawks can find an uptick and build off the momentum generated on Monday.

As always, leave your thoughts below.

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