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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.