Well, at least the Hawks know there is absolutely nothing wrong with Jeff Teague's sprained ankle.
He piled up a career-high 24 points on 9-for-11 shooting from the floor, knocking down all four of his shots from beyond the 3-point line, just a game after spraining his ankle bad enough that he did not return for the second half of action in a win over the Pistons.
Teague led the Hawks in their 94-72 rout of the Hornets as they improved to 3-1 on their five-game road trip and pushed their record to 8-2 without the services of All-Star center Al Horford, who is out for the remainder of the season after tearing his left pectoral muscle.
"I wasn't worried about it as much as some people might have been," Teague said. "I knew I'd be fine. I just wanted to make sure we didn't get in a hole like we did in Detroit. When you're on the road you try and set the tone, no matter what you have to lead."
Not only did Teague show some serious bounce back from his own personal adversity, the Hawks have continued to show their mettle by thriving without Horford in the lineup.
Even more intriguing is that the Hawks haven't relied solely on Joe Johnson and Josh Smith to do all of the heavy lifting since things changed dramatically on both ends for these co-captains. Guys like Teague, Marvin Williams, Ivan Johnson, Tracy McGrady and Willie Green have all had opportunities to step up and help fill the void.
Green did just that against the Hornets, scoring 16 points off the bench against his former team, a much-needed boost with no other Hawks regular playing more than 30 minutes in the game.
"There's not a lot to complain about when you start the way we did and then run the table like that," Johnson said. "We know we have to get right back out there Monday night (in Toronto) and try and finish this trip off right. So it's good to get contributions from all of the guys."
NOTES, QUOTES
Hawks coach Larry Drew gambled a bit against the Hornets, knowing that the schedule required his team to travel from the Gulf Coast to Canada and play a game less than 24 hours after the previous game ended.
By resting most of his starters (Joe Johnson was the only regular to get to the 30-minute mark), Drew is counting on them kicking things off against the Raptors Monday night in Toronto with some much-needed energy.
"You have to take some calculated risks with the schedule and the way the games come at us this season," Drew said. "We took one tonight and we'll find out later if it pays off or not."
When he went up in the air, most of his teammates just assumed Tracy McGrady would lay the ball in, as he has all season.
Thunderous slam dunks have been far and few between for the aging former star, even in practice settings. But with the Hawks on a roll and McGrady feeling spry, he caught an alley-oop pass against the Hornets and smashed it through the rim like the "ol' days."
"I forgot he could dunk," Josh Smith said in jest. "I saw him go up and I figured he was going to just lay it in. Next time I'll know not to assume anything."
QUOTE TO NOTE
"We're 15-6 and we've tackled all comers. If that makes us one of the best teams in the league ... I don't know. That's for someone else to decide. But look around, how many teams are 15-6 right now?" -- Josh Smith on the perceived lack of respect the Hawks are (or are not) getting these days.
