Jeff Teague said it was an “honor” to be selected as a participant in the Skills Challenge Competition as part of All-Star weekend later this month.
The point guard will be the only Hawks representative at the All-Star game.
“I’m going to stay on Jeff about winning,” Hawks coach Larry Drew joked. “He better not come back without winning.”
Teague laughed at Drew’s comment.
“The pressure is added,” he said.
The NBA contacted Teague about participating in the event earlier this week. Teague said he waited to make sure his hip contusion wasn’t an issue before agreeing to take part.
Teague got some advice from Devin Harris, a past participant in the timed dribbling, passing and shooting drills.
“He was talking about how he missed the free-throw shot a lot of times when he did it,” Teague said. “He says that’s the biggest shot. He told me to practice on it a little bit. I was like, ‘Man it’s a free throw.’ He said there is a lot more pressure when you are out there by yourself.”
Teague will represent the Eastern Conference along with the 76ers’ Jrue Holiday and the Pistons’ Brandon Knight. The Western Conference will be represented by the Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard, the Rockets’ Jeremy Lin and the Spurs’ Tony Parker.
This year’s All-Star Game will be played at the Toyota Center in Houston on Sunday, Feb. 17.
The Skills Challenge will be contested on Saturday, Feb. 16 along with the Slam Dunk Contest, 3-point Shooting Contest and Shooting Stars Competition.
“It’s real big,” Josh Smith said of the exposure the event will give Teague. “There are going to be a lot of people watching. We’ll see how he does under pressure.”
- Anthony Tolliver will get another start at small forward, his second straight, when the Hawks host the Hornets tonight. DeShawn Stevenson will not be available and Drew said Tolliver deserves another start after his performance against the Grizzlies Wednesday.
“With AT out there he gives us more length,” Drew said. “As I stated after the game against Memphis, he’s been really good for us defensively, from being in the right position stand point and he has some size.”
Drew said Stevenson is experiencing soreness in his right knee and needs extra rest.
- The rest of the starting lineup versus the Hornets will be Teague, Kyle Korver, Smith and Al Horford.
- Drew called guard Devin Harris (sore left foot) and center Zaza Pachulia (sore right Achilles) game-time decisions but both players told me they will play tonight. Each was a full participant in Friday morning's shootaround.
“I’m good to go,” Harris said.
Pachulia has missed the past four games, and five of the past seven, with the Achilles trouble. He worked out Thursday, on the off day, with rookie Mike Scott and felt no pain.
“Obviously I’m excited to get back and hopefully it won’t bother me anymore,” Pachulia said.
- Drew said the key tonight will be the Hawks' defense against the Hornets.
“They run a lot of sets,” Drew said. “They don’t run six or seven sets that you can really zero in on. They run a lot of sets. We are going to be in a situation where we have to defend actions more so than knowing what they are running. A lot of the things they do are personnel driven. Our basketball instincts are really going to have to be good tonight.”
Smith said the Hawks will want to jump on the Hornets early, much like they did against the Grizzlies, and take away any confidence they may have.
