Hawks point guard Jeff Teague sets career high in 113-103 win over 76ers

It was the Jeff Teague show in Atlanta on Friday night, and everyone in the world of either the Atlanta Hawks or the Philadelphia 76ers was just living in it.

Teague set a career-high with 33 points (on 16 shots!) and dished out 10 assists to lead the Hawks to a 113-103 win over the Sixers, but this was more than just a one-time explosion. The 25-year-old point guard came into the game averaging 9.9 assists, and that was good for 2nd in the NBA behind Chris Paul through the early parts of the season. With that, Teague’s adoption into a Spurs-like offensive system (courtesy of new Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer) has been lights-out, and this was another example of that.

However, this was a new peak for the point guard, and I’m not sure that many people saw it coming. Teague got to the line 13 times in the game (converting 12 of them), and any time a player (especially a smaller guard) can score more than 2 points per field goal attempt, you’re on to something. It would be too aggressive to suggest that Teague won this game by himself (DeMarre Carroll also had a career high, and Al Horford is Al Horford), but it was pretty much the Jeff Teague variety hour.

I’m not sure where Teague would rank among the game’s “elite” at the point guard position, but I can guarantee that it is higher (probably much higher) than the general public would care to admit.