Is it safe to say the Hawks are on a roll? Atlanta continues to find ways to win in Al Horford’s absence, this time riding Joe Johnson’s 30 points past the Raptors. With the win, Atlanta ends its 5-game road trip with a 4-1 record and move to 16-6 on the season.

Although Jeff Teague had only 10 points, he had 5 assists which hopefully is a sign that the young point guard is learning to move the ball around better. Teague has averaged only 2.3 assists per game over his career– not exactly the kind of numbers you want from your starting point guard. T-Mac also came up big off the bench with 15 points in tonight’s win.

The Raptors struggled from the field shooting only 37 percent compared to the Hawks’ 51 percent.

After a relatively easy schedule thus far, the Hawks will face more daunting challenges over the next two weeks during which 5 of their next 7 opponents have winning records, including two division rivals– the Heat and the Magic.

Well, apparently Jeff Teague’s ankle isn’t bothering him that much after all. The Hawks point guard led the team with 24 points (4-for-4 from behind the arc) in a resounding 94-72 win over the New Orleans Hornets.

Teague’s status had been questionable after he sprained his left ankle and came out of Friday night’s game, but he played a solid 29 minutes. Guard Willie Green also came up big off the bench with 16 points in 15 minutes.

For the Hornets, it looked like Emeka Okafor was the only one who showed up to play. The center had 13 points and 8 rebounds; the remaining four starters had a combined 27 points and only 7 rebounds.

The win ends the Hawks three-game losing streak against the Hornets and brings them to 3-1 on the current road trip. The team wraps up the trip Tuesday night in Toronto.

The Hawks will head to New Orleans to take on the Hornets tonight at 7 p.m. EST. The Hawks (14-6) are coming off an overtime win against the Pistons and are just a half game out of first behind the Heat. The Hornets (4-15) are in last place in the Southwest Division and have the worst record in the Western Conference. However, they are coming off an impressive win against Orlando in which they held the struggling Magic to only 67 points.

Injury Update: Jeff Teague, who left Friday’s game with a sprained ankle, practiced with the team yesterday but will still be a game-time decision. If he doesn’t start, Coach Larry Drew says Kirk Hinrich will likely take his place.

What to watch for: What will Joe Johnson do? Thus far, the Hawks guard has stepped up his game since the injury to Al Horford and the Hawks have been riding on his success. But the Hornets have a stingy defense and have held the Hawks to less than 90 points the last three times the teams have met.

Between injuries and all the ups and downs, the Hawks don’t seem to have a consistent game plan or lineup so far this season. But whatever they’re doing appears to be working.

Kirk Hinrich seems to be making his way back to his old form, with 5 points and 9 assists in his second game back after shoulder surgery. He played 32 minutes in last night’s 107-101 OT win over the Pistons. There was some uncertainty about what Jeff Teague’s role would be once Hinrich was back, but Larry Drew may be able to prolong that decision for a while. Teague went down with an ankle injury and left the game in the second half. He is still day-to-day.

Joe Johnson had 30 points last night while Josh Smith added 19 points and 11 rebounds. For the Pistons, Greg Monroe led the team with 22 points and 11 rebounds.

Next Up: The Hawks will play the New Orleans Hornets Sunday at 7:00 p.m. EST.

The Atlanta Sports Council awarded former Hawks great Dominique Wilkins with its 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award. The Atlanta Sports Council is an organization comprised of local leaders dedicated to bringing major athletic events to Atlanta and encouraging sports in the city.

Wilkins is a nine-time NBA All-Star and played with the Hawks from 1982 to 1994. He is currently the Hawks’ vice president of basketball and TV analyst.

Former Braves manager Bobby Cox won the award in 2011.

This year, the award will be presented to Wilkins on February 27 at the Fox Theater.

As the Republican primaries continue to rage on in Florida, preliminary results for NBA All-Star voting has raised a few eyebrows. Hawks forward, Josh Smith in particular seems to be getting the short end of the stick.

Despite the fact that Smoove was the only forward who ranked among the top 10 in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks after an earlier ballot update, he didn’t crack the top ten list of forwards in the most recent All-Star ballot update.

In fact, the only Hawks players who did make the list were Joe Johnson (10th among guards) and Al Horford (6th among centers).

Voting ends on January 31st, and All-Star weekend will take place the weekend of February 24-26 in Orlando.

Sports Illustrated writer Zach Lowe had some rather enlightening thoughts to share on the Hawks in his column,  The Point Forward, yesterday:

“The Hawks are the Hawks — boring, predictable, effective, somehow making do with Vladimir Radmanovic, Ivan Johnson and (especially) a spry Zaza Pachulia playing Al Horford’s minutes. No one knows what to make of this team, though it will be intriguing if Marvin Williams keeps playing like he is, Jeff Teague finds his game consistently and Horford returns. But a contender? Eh.”

Honestly, not a bad assessment, imho. Taking a step back at this quarter-mark in the season, the Hawks are doing slightly better than expected (13-5, first place in the Southeast Division), although their schedule hasn’t been the most challenging thus far.

The impressive part is that they’ve done so despite major injuries to Al Horford and Kirk Hinrich, not to mention smaller nagging injuries to Marvin Williams and Tracy McGrady. But different players have stepped up at different times, the most recent of which was Joe Johnson’s 28-point performance in last night’s 97-92 victory over the Bucks.

The Hawks face a tough test as they begin a five-game road trip tonight in Milwaukee. Over the course of the next eight days, Atlanta faces the Bucks, Spurs, Pistons, Hornets and Raptors.

Currently, the Hawks are tied with the Magic for first place in the Southeast Division and have managed to win despite serious injuries to Kirk Hinrich and Al Horford. But the majority of those wins have come at home– Atlanta is 8-1 at Philips Arena but only 4-4 on the road.

For Atlanta, it will be the first time the team faces the Bucks, Spurs, Pistons and Hornets this season. In their last game against the Raptors, the Hawks won 93-84. Although the Bucks are only 6-9 on the season, they are coming off a 91-82 win over the Heat. Tonight’s game will be at 8:00 p.m. EST.

Hawks guard Kirk Hinrich may be available for the team’s upcoming 5-game road trip starting tomorrow night in Milwaukee. Hinrich had surgery on his left shoulder in November. Initial reports had an estimated recovery time of three to four months.

While it is uncertain whether Hinrich will get in a game during the road trip, he’ll travel with the team and hopes to play:

“I hope I’ll be playing sometime on this trip,” he said.

Hinrich’s comeback would bring a much needed spark to the team, particularly in light of Al Horford’s potentially season-ending injury.

The Hawks will play the Bucks, Spurs, Pistons, Hornets and Raptors over the next nine days.

It’s never a good sign when your “top performance” is Jeff Teague‘s 12 points and 6 assists. The Hawks let this one slip away, losing 90-76 to the Sixers Friday night.

The Sixers’ second year coach, Doug Collins, wrote on a board during halftime, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Apparently the motivation worked. Atlanta was up 47-39 at the half, but collapsed in the third quarter as the Sixers outscored them 25-10.

“I thought our guys went fast in the first half, and alone,” Collins said. “I thought we went far in the second half, and together.”

Hawks coach Larry Drew had less flattering things to say of his team after the loss:

“It got tough for us and we quit,” Drew said. “That’s what happened. I was more disappointed than frustrated.”

Next Up: The Hawks look to bounce back tonight against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Philips Arena. The game is at 7:00 p.m. EST.