Atlanta Hawks: Eastern Conference Power Rankings, Nov. 12

The Atlanta Hawks are 8-2 in their first 10 games of the 2015-16 NBA Season. No matter how ridiculous the schedule is at the start of the season, it seems that this Atlanta Hawks team is a resilient bunch and will continue as one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference.

The Eastern Conference seems to have a bit more balance to it at the start of the season. It seems also that the West isn’t as superior to the East in the first part of the season. There are both good and bad teams in both Conferences of the NBA. While the West may have more teams likely to win an NBA Championship this season than the East, it’s still so early to anoint anyone a trip to the NBA Finals.

Atlanta has proven many skeptics wrong with their hot start. Most teams couldn’t go 8-2 in their first 10 games, much less having to play a contest essentially every 48 hours or less in the first five weeks of the NBA Season. However, the Atlanta Hawks are still a contender in the East, whether the national media or the basketball world wants them there.

Since there has been enough of a sample size in the first two weeks of the NBA season, it is time to power rank the Eastern Conference, 15 to 1. This is still an estimate as most teams besides the Atlanta Hawks have played anywhere from 7 to 9 games on the year. We still don’t know exactly who’s great and who’s terrible, as last year’s perceptions still play a big part in these rankings.

Every Thursday I will re-rank the East to have a better understand of where our Atlanta Hawks lie in it. Can they sustain a championship level team or will they drop to one of the other four tiers in the Eastern Conference. Without further ado, here are the first power rankings of the East for the 2015-16 NBA Season.

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