NBA power rankings 2012: Hawks in top 10

The Atlanta Hawks saw their six game winning streak end on Friday against the Cleveland Cavaliers, but that did not tumble the team out of the top 10 in various NBA Power Rankings lists. After coming in at No. 8 on SB Nation's power rankings, the Hawks found themselves with a similar ranking on most other sites.

On ESPN.com, John Hollinger has the Hawks at No. 9, up one spot from last week. Marc Stein on the other hand has the Hawks at No. 10, falling three spots from last week. Stein says that despite having a fairly soft schedule, the Hawks wasted an opportunity last week:

The Hawks moved up to a lofty No. 7, in spite of a mostly soft schedule, because of their stingy D and one quality W over the Clips. They slide back down now because the schedule delivered another inviting week that the Hawks squandered by splitting at home against Charlotte and Cleveland.

On Pro Basketball Talk, Kurt Helin dropped the Hawks only one spot from last week, ranking them at No. 8. Helin believes that we will know more about the Hawks after their upcoming schedule:

They won six in a row but did it against soft competition (save for the Clippers win). We'll learn a lot more from them with teams like Denver, Miami and Memphis coming up.

On NBA.com, John Schuhmann is ranked No. 9, down two spots from last week. Schuhmann believes that the Hawks can prove that their six-game winning streak was not a fluke if they perform well with their upcoming schedule:

That six-game winning streak was pretty darn shallow, and the Hawks may have proved it with Friday's loss to the Cavs at home, their worst defensive game of the season. But you can only play the games on your schedule, and the Hawks will have some tougher ones coming up to prove where they really stand. They host the Nuggets and visit both Memphis and Miami in the next eight days