Atlanta Hawks

Question of the week: Do any of the NBA’s Eastern Conference fringe playoff teams actually want to make the postseason? Asking for a friend or 50 here. Seriously, once you leave the East’s top-six teams—Hawks(!), Raptors, Wizards, Bulls, Cavaliers and Bucks—it feels like you’ve entered the “Let’s try and suck as much as possible in order to [...]

There’s something truly zany about the 2014-15 NBA season. It’s been weird. It’s still weird. It’s truly, utterly, completely, wholly, wonderfully, purely, perfectly zany. Allow me to offer up Exhibit A: These here power rankings. Collective movement is neither enormous nor insubstantial. There is virtually no change at the top. But then we get into the [...]

This season, Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal told USA Today that himself and Wall are, “definitely the best backcourt in the league.” But, after his dismissal from the Warriors, former Head Coach Mark Jackson called Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry the, “greatest shooting backcourt in the history of the game.” Since then, the question of [...]

Los Angeles Clippers Coach and President of Basketball Operations Doc Rivers said all the right things when he pulled the trigger on a 3-team trade that sent his son Austin Rivers home to the Clippers, Reggie Bullock to the Phoenix Suns, Chris Douglas-Roberts and a 2017 pick to the Boston Celtics. But, does the Clippers [...]

Well it’s official: The NBA is a forest fire of craziness. To wit: A lot has happened since we last met. Kevin Garnett decided to head-hump Dwight Howard amid the Net’s demonstrative downturn; the Pistons decided to be an actual basketball team; the Knicks and Celtics let Sam Hinkie know they’re coming for his (pingpong) balls; [...]

Hello again. After a brief holiday respite, during which a crap ton of NBA-related things happened, The Hoop Doctors’ power rankings are back. We know it’s been tough, slogging through these last two weeks without the ability to incessantly check and read and cherish and tell your friends about updated power rankings. But the wait [...]

Here’s to stability. Never before, in the year-plus since we’ve been doing these power rankings, has there been less movement within a week. Twelve teams are right where they were last week, which is pretty freaking incredible. That’s almost half the Association, and that never happens. And, somewhat surprisingly, it’s the league’s best teams that [...]

Pssst. Hey! You! Guess what? The Philadelphia 76ers are not the worst team in the NBA right now. True freaking story. Also, pssst! The Chicago Bulls amnestied Carlos Boozer and somehow regressed on the defensive end. Ignoring every other piece of context—Pau Gasol’s arrival, Derrick Rose’s return, Nikola Mirotic’s and Doug McDermott’s inexperience—that’s pretty funny. [...]

The NBA’s Eastern Conference is ugly. The NBA’s Western Conference, meanwhile, is pretty flipping fantastic. This will now conclude the portion of the article where we talk about anything besides the 76ers’ suckitude. Well, not really. There are loads of other things to discuss. Like the Warriors being incredible. And the Grizzlies drinking from the Warriors’ Gatorade [...]

There’s a lot for the NBA to be thankful for this time of year. Stephen Curry’s bombs; Marc Gasol’s everything; the Mavericks offense; the Kings’ illogical record; Jimmy Butler’s surge; Anthony Davis’ god mode; San Antonio being San Antonio; Damian Lillard’s cold-bloodedness; and so much more. Truth told, there is also plenty the league could [...]