Horford All-Star

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The Atlanta Hawks have been rewarded for their stellar play through the first half of the season as Al Horford, Paul Millsap and Jeff Teague have all been selected as All Stars by the Eastern Conference coaches.

The Hawks have three All Stars for the first time in 35 years.

Teague has improved his scoring average each season he's been in the league and is averaging career-highs in points, rebounds and two-point FG%.  He's been the team's engine during a remarkable 38-8 start that has Atlanta 7 games in front of the field in the Eastern Conference.  Teague will be an All-Star for the first time.

Millsap will make his second consecutive All-Star appearance in his second season as a Hawk.  He's producing at nearly an identical clip as last season, averaging better than 17 points and 8 rebounds per contest while recording a career-high in assists.  The Hawks are one of the most balanced teams in the league, but it's hard to argue Millsap hasn't been the most consistent bird.  He's a stat stuffer, leading all East frontcourt players in steals at 1.7 per game while also blocking nearly one shot per contest.

Horford has been on a shooting tear in January, hitting at a 59% clip while taking roughly 12 shots per game.  His efficiency has been amazing, and his pick-and-roll game with Teague is nearly unstoppable.  His path to the All-Star Game is remarkable considering he missed all but 29 games of last season with a pectoral tear and took about a month of regular season action in 2014-15 to really get his groove back.  It will be Horford's third All-Star appearance.

The common theme among these three is that all have improved defensively, which is something you have to believe the coaches value.  That, and all three have bought into Coach Bud's system of pace, space and ball movement.  The team success contributed to the Hawks having three All Stars, but all three of these guys are worthy.

Coach Bud and his staff earned the opportunity to coach the East All-Star team by virtue of having the best record in the conference.  Dennis Schröder was named to the Rising Stars Challenge on Wednesday, with Hawks assistant Kenny Atkinson set to coach the World Team.  Other Hawks may also be making appearances as more event lineups are announced.

horford-millsap-teague-selected-as-all-stars

Horford, Millsap, Teague Selected As All Stars

NBA All-Star ballots are open, and once again fans have the opportunity to vote for the starters for each conference.

We are asking you to vote for all five of our starters to get to New York!

Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver, DeMarre Carroll, Paul Millsap and Al Horford have been huge in leading Atlanta to solid start in the Eastern Conference.  The starting five has played unselfish, team basketball in Coach Bud's system, and the results speak for themselves.

Fans can vote from now through Jan. 19 in one of six ways:

Fans can vote on NBA.com by clicking here.  Limit one ballot per day per computer with up to 5 Hawks players and 5 Western Conference players.  Fans can also access the ballot and vote from their mobile device.

Fans can vote by texting a player's last name to 69622 (MYNBA).  Limit one vote per player every 24 hours, and only 10 votes per phone per day.  Message and data rates may apply.

NBA Game Time and NBA Game Time from Sprint apps

Limit one ballot per phone per day on those apps.

Fans can post status updates from their personal account that includes the hashtag #NBABallot and the first &amp; last name of the player (Example: "Al Horford #NBABallot").  Limit one vote per player per day and limit 10 votes per account per day.  Note: Comments on status updates do not count as votes.

Fans can tweet a player's first and last name or Twitter handle, along with #NBABallot to cast a vote (Example: "@Al_Horford #NBABallot" OR "Al Horford #NBABallot").  Retweets, replies and mentions also count as votes.  Limit one vote per player per day, and limit 10 total votes per account per day.

Fans can post photos to their personal accounts with the player's first and last name and #NBABallot in the caption to cast a vote (Example: Al Horford #NBABallot).  Comments on photos will not count as votes.

Voting for more than one player at a time through text or social media will not count.  So remember, vote for the Hawks starting five, but be sure to do it in separate texts, posts, etc.

Horford All‑Star

Horford, Millsap, Teague Selected As All Stars

Vote Hawks Starters To The All-Star Game