Atlanta Hawks: Eastern Conference Power Rankings, Dec. 31

The awful Philadelphia 76ers go on a West Coast road trip and actually win some basketball games. The Sixers defeated the Phoenix Suns on Saturday and the Sacramento Kings on the Wednesday to move to three wins on the year. Shockingly, all three of the 76ers’ wins this season have come against foes in the Pacific Division.

However, the Sixers still play in the East and went 0-for in conference play in 2015, going (0-20). Their next opportunity to get a win against an Eastern Conference opponent will come a week from today when the host a 20+ win Atlanta Hawks team at the Wells Fargo Center.

The Brooklyn Nets are one of three teams in the NBA that won’t win 10 games in 2015. The Nets are 2-8 in their last ten games and have the third worst record in the NBA behind only the Philadelphia 76ers (3-31) and the Los Angeles Lakers (6-27).

The Nets are on pace to win only 23 games this season, which could potentially get their draft rights belonging to the Atlantic Division rival Boston Celtics inside of the top three in the 2016 NBA Draft. Either the Nets need to improve or the New Orleans Pelicans need to play worse or Boston will pick in the top three instead of Brooklyn.

The Bucks have lost three straight games and are a terrible basketball team away from the Bradley Center (3-15). Having head coach Jason Kidd out for an extended time as he recovers from hip surgery doesn’t bode well for the Bucks to right the ship in 2016.

At 12-21, Milwaukee may not win 30 games in 2015-16 after many believed that this team could potentially reach an Eastern Conference Finals. This team is young, but the future still seems very bright with the Bucks. Getting one more piece in the Lottery may do wonders for this club in 2016-17.

Next: Tier IV: Not Making the Playoffs