Atlanta Hawks
Record: 26-17
The Atlanta Hawks are slightly off their 60-win pace from last season, but all in all this season hasn’t been terrible for Mike Budenholzer’s club. Sure, the Hawks have regressed a bit this season, but who didn’t see that coming this year? If you didn’t, and expected for Atlanta to win 60 games against this season, that just isn’t fair.
Losing DeMarre Carroll to the Toronto Raptors hurt, no question. But losing Paul Millsap would’ve hurt even more – Millsap is having the best season of his career, averaging 20 points and 9.5 rebounds per game on nearly 50 percent shooting from the field.
Atlanta will likely be, once again, a top 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, and could make another run to the Conference Finals. Unfortunately, they have almost no chance to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers once they get there.
Grade: B+
Next: Boston Celtics