Atlanta Hawks: Eastern Conference Power Rankings, Nov. 19

The Atlanta Hawks have played 14 games already in 2015-16 and are 9-5 after beating the Sacramento Kings last night, 103-97. They will face the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena on Saturday night.

As we have entered the back half of November, the NBA’s Eastern Conference seems a bit more balanced than what we saw last season. Though it’s still incredibly early, only three teams in the East sit below .500 at this point in the regular season. Last season, two teams that finished below .500 made the playoffs (Boston and Brooklyn).

While the West is probably still the superior conference in the NBA, the East feels deeper in 2015-16. In this small sample size of the NBA season, it looks like 12 or 13 teams in the East have a shot at making the playoffs in some capacity, so there is plenty to cheer about unless you’re a Nets or Sixers fan.

Another interesting development within the East thus far is that no team is head and shoulders better than the rest of the conference. All fifteen teams have at least 3 losses and only Atlanta has 9 wins, due in part to the Hawks playing 14 games already. Cleveland is still the team to beat, but the Cavaliers haven’t exactly come out on fire like the Golden State Warriors have out on the West Coast.

Without further ado, here is the NBA’s Eastern Conference power ranked 15 to 1 on this November 19th edition.

Next: Tier V: Likely Picking in the Top 10