Biggest surprise team: Atlanta Hawks (43-11)Before this season, the only news about the Atlanta Hawks swirled around their then general manager Danny Ferry making some not-so-PC comments. The Hawks have rewritten all the headlines, though, and become the breakout team of the first half. It starts with All-Star point guard Jeff Teague, who averages 17.0 points and 6.2 assists while managing an offense that shares the ball and has several weapons. Then there is Kyle Korver – one of the league's most efficient players. Korver is on track to become the first player in NBA history to have 50 percent field goal shooting, 50 percent 3-point shooting and 90 percent free throw shooting for a season. Add two more All-Stars – Paul Millsap and Al Horford – and one second-year point guard who participated in the Skills Challenge and Rising Stars game, Dennis Schroder, to coach Mike Budenholzer (from the Gregg Popovich school) and you get a team primed to make a deep playoff run. Photo: Curtis Compton, McClatchy-Tribune News Service
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