NBA Power Rankings Week 2: The rise of the Atlanta Hawks

Last Week: Beat Boston Celtics 108-107, Lost to Boston Celtics 116-111, Beat Cleveland Cavaliers 119-99, Lost to the New York Knicks 106-102

This Week: 1/4/2021 at New Orleans Pelicans, 1/6/2021 vs. Houston Rockets, 1/9/2021 vs. Phoenix Suns

There was plenty to be positive about this week for the Indiana Pacers and then the news came out about the indefinite injury absence of T.J. Warren. For a team looking to truly be benefitting from a change in leadership, losing one of their most effective scorers is a brutal blow.

So far this season Victor Oladipo has looked significantly better than the player who made the trip to the bubble. Domantas Sabonis is out to prove some talking heads wrong that his previous All-Star selection was anything other than truly deserved. Any shot within the gravitational pull of Myles Turner has been volleyball spiked into oblivion. Malcolm Brogdon is the definition of efficient. And yet the injury to Warren hangs over the team like a funeral pall.

This team has never quite been at full strength at any point over the last three years and this injury truly sets them back. They will continue to be competitive but they need all hands on deck to truly have a chance at pushing the contenders.

Making the week even worse is finishing it with a loss to the awkwardly feisty New York Knicks. After beating the Boston Celtics to start the week, the Pacers looked primed to shut up all naysayers. Hopefully, this injury does not derail that trajectory.