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.

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.

We’re one-sixth of the way through this shortened NBA season and the Hawks are right about where pre-season predictions had them pegged– with a winning record (7-4), third place in the division, and living comfortably in the lap of mediocrity.

Despite a valiant fourth quarter effort, the Hawks couldn’t come back against the Pacers Wednesday night and lost 96-84. Atlanta outscored Indiana 25-16 in the fourth but it was too little too late this time, and the Hawks snapped their three-game winning streak.

For the Pacers, the story of the night was Danny Granger‘s comeback– the Indiana forward led both teams with 24 points after being sidelined with food poisoning during the last game. Granger had been struggling from the field but seemed to have found his rhythm tonight. Apparently it wasn’t causing him too much concern:

“I never shoot good at the beginning of the season,” Granger said. “Nothing different. I knew it would come around at one point. Everybody else was worried about it more than I was.”

The Hawks were playing shorthanded, with injuries to Vladimir Radmanovic, Marvin Williams, andTracy McGrady. To make matters worse, Al Horford went down during the first quarter after straining his left shoulder and did not return for the remainder of the game. His future status is still unknown.

Next Up: The Hawks return home to take on the Bobcats Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. EST.

The Hawks came back with a strong second half to give the Heat their first loss of the season on Miami’s own court last night with a 100-92 victory. The Hawks were down by as many as 10 in the second quarter but came back to within three at the half.

Joe Johnson led the Hawks with 21 points. Al Horford also had a big night with 16 points and nine rebounds while Jeff Teague added 15 points and 5 assists of his own. But the clutch performance really came from newly acquired veteran T-Mac whose two 3-pointers late in the game sealed the deal for Atlanta.

Atlanta’s zone defense scheme worked well in keeping the Heat’s big three at bay– James had 28 points, Bosh had 19 and Wade was limited to only 12.

The two teams will tag up again this Thursday at Philips Arena.

Atlanta started off the 2011-2012 season with a resounding victory over the Nets, with strong contributions from newcomers Vladimir Radmanovic, Tracy McGrady and Jannero Pargo off the bench. Radmanovic, the recently acquired forward, led the team with 17 points and five assists in just over 27 minutes. McGrady had 12 points, two rebounds and one block, while Pargo added six points and three assists and three rebounds.

The Hawks’ starters showed a lot of energy as well, and Jeff Teague had an encouraging performance with 13 points, three assists and three rebounds in 24 minutes.

The Nets were playing without Brook Lopez, out with a stress fracture in his foot, and never led once during the game.

Next Up: The Hawks will take on the Washington Wizards in their home opener at Philips Arena tonight at 7:30 p.m. EST.

Ahhh, it feels good to write about real games again. The Hawks open the regular season tonight against the New Jersey Nets at the Prudential Center in Newark. The Nets are coming off a 90-84 win against the Wizards yesterday.

A few things to look out for in tonight’s game:

• Which Jeff Teague will show up? - With Kirk Hinrich still out with a shoulder injury, the young point guard will have a chance to show that his standout performances against the Bulls during the playoffs last season weren’t complete flukes.
• Role of veteran newcomers - The Hawks’ offseason moves didn’t exactly jump out in the “breaking news” column and seemed to have a geriatric theme. The acquisition of veterans Tracy McGrady, Jerry Stackhouse, Vladimir Radmanovic, and Jannero Pargo add a lot of years and wisdom to the bench, but how will this translate in the win-loss column?
• Will Josh Smith get over his fear of the paint and stop taking perimeter jump shots? - After shedding 25 pounds in the off-season, let’s hope a leaner, meaner and more aggressive J-Smoove shows up.

In keeping with their trend of adding veteran faces to the bench, the Hawks signed 7-year veteran guard Jannero Pargo yesterday according to GM Rick Sund. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Pargo didn’t appear in a game with the Bulls last season, but played in 63 during the 2009-10 season. He averaged 5.5 points-per-game and 13.2 minutes-per-game.

Pargo joins Tracy McGrady and Vladimir Radmanovic as off-season veteran additions. Combined, the three have 32 years of experience under their belts (15 for McGrady, 10 for Radmanovic and 7 for Pargo)… aaand 49 average minutes-per-game in their last full regular seasons (23 for McGrady, 16 for Radmanovic and 13 for Pargo).

The Hawks will take on the Bobcats tomorrow night in a rematch of Monday night’s preseason 79-77 loss.

Hawks beat reporter, Michael Cunningham’s post headline says it all: “Hawks look the same, want different results.” Despite a brief stint as a part of the Chris Paul fanfare, the Hawks’ “offseason” moves have been relatively tame thus far. Among the team’s “major” deals are the acquisitions of veterans Tracy McGrady and Vladimir Radmanovic. Even the earlier talks about moving Josh Smith have died down, and the Hawks are resolute to work with what they’ve got.

“We can’t blame it on what we need,” said Joe Johnson. “We can get it done with this group and what we’ve got. We just have to believe.”

And according to a prediction by CBS Sports, the Hawks will end up 2nd in the Southeast Division, one spot above where they were in last year’s standings. CBS has Atlanta beating out the Magic, in large part due to the uncertainty surrounding Dwight Howard’s status.

According to an ESPN report this evening, the Hawks have agreed to a one-year deal with shooting guard Tracy McGrady. McGrady played for the Pistons last season but spent the majority of his 15-year career with the Rockets in Houston. McGrady is a seven-time All-Star but has been hampered by injuries in recent years.

If confirmed, the addition of Grady would bring a seasoned veteran to a relatively young Hawks team.