Chris Barnewall of Hawks Hoop: “This week in the southeast, the Wizards look like a pretty damn good basketball team, but the Hawks are right on their tail. These are not only two of the best teams in the division; they might be two of the best teams in the conference. Meanwhile, the division is starting to get a little top heavy, with Miami falling to below .500, there are now three teams below .500 in a division many thought was going to be very good this year. Washington Wizards, 13-5, 2nd in the East, 4-0 this week WAS Does it really matter that the Wizards haven’t beaten any great teams this year if they keep beating up on everybody else, cause that’s what they’re doing. They won a game against Miami that, at the time, looked like a good win but Miami’s recent slide has put that wins validity into doubt. Their best win of the week was an 83-80 defeat of the New Orleans Pelicans. Overcoming a low scoring game like that can be difficult for a lot of teams but the Wizards handled it well, using it to send them on a four game winning streak.”
Jesus Gomez of SB Nation: “At the beginning of the season, most experts had the top four teams in the East pegged as the Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards, in no particular order. What few anticipated was that 18 games in, the Atlanta Hawks were going to rank third in the conference. The Hawks, who finished eighth last season, didn’t make any splashy free agent additions and are struggling to reintegrate Al Horford after he missed most of last season with a pectoral injury. Yet Atlanta somehow has managed to get more wins so far than both the Bulls and Cavaliers.The Hawks currently have the fourth-best offense in the league, thanks to a system based on ball-movement and 3-point shooting similar to the San Antonio Spurs’, adapted by former assistant coach and Gregg Popovich confidant Mike Budenholzer. In the center of it all there’s Jeff Teague, the 27-year-old point guard who is averaging career highs in points, field goal percentage and 3-point shooting”
The Associated Press: “DeMarre Carroll scored 16 of his 18 points in the first half, Paul Millsap had 17 points and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Nets, 98-75, on Friday night at Barclays Center for their fifth straight victory. Brook Lopez had 20 points and Joe Johnson added 12 for the Nets, who had won two straight, including a tough victory over the defending champion San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday. Jeff Teague finished with 14 points and Dennis Schroder scored 13 for the Hawks, who led by as many as 32.”
