Nothing endures like the legacy of an assist.

So declares the President and CEO of the National Bureau of Assists. Yet it’s not only Cliff Paul’s long-lost twin brother’s team, the Los Angeles Clippers (24.5 APG, 5^th in NBA; league-high 1.94 assist-turnover ratio), who has taken his principle to heart. It’s also the team they’re visiting tonight, the Atlanta Hawks (7:30 PM Eastern, SportSouth, PRIME), who are waltzing into this merry season on top of that other NBA with 25.8 assists per game, 67.6% of field goals assisted, and 19.7 assists per 100 possessions.

It’s that sharing-is-caring philosophy that has vaulted the Hawks to a 15-5 in-conference record, tied for the best in the East, plus a 5-2 record against the vaunted West. That latter mark was bolstered by two impressive victories in the Lone Star State over the past three days, the first Texas two-step (prevailing in both Dallas and Houston in the same season) by the Hawks since 2009-2010, a season when current Clippers assistant Mike Woodson was losing his eyebrows on the Hawks sideline and Josh Smith was making his final stab at on-court sanity.

A fifth-straight win over a Western Conference opponent tonight would be the Hawks’ fifth-consecutive victory and 13^th in their past 14. Outlasting the Clippers, who are headed back home for a Christmas Night game against the top-seeded Golden State Warriors, would make it impossible on Christmas Day for the talking-head TV pundits, and the crazy relatives beside the egg nog bowl, to dodge the question they’ve all evaded for nearly a month: What’s Gotten Into the Atlanta Hawks?

Meanwhile, nearly two months into the NBA season, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and the high-profile Clippers (19-9; 6^th seed in the West) remain on the hunt for what one might call a “signature” victory. They crawled out of a 14-point hole to top Portland at home early in the season, bested the KD-less Thunder after Russell Westbrook broke his hand early in the game, and won a road game in Houston (meh, who doesn’t do that these days?) against a Dwight Howard-less Rockets squad. Beyond that, there’s not much in their win column that anyone would deem impressive. Might the Hawks be kind enough to giftwrap them a big win in advance of their primetime Christmas matchup? And who knew the Hawks might be the NBA team in such a position?

Following a nine-game winning streak of their own, L.A. has won just three of their past seven games, and lost each of their past four road contests. The full-squad Spurs tenderized the Clippers last night with a 125-118 win in regulation, the first loss for the Clips this season (11-1) when they’ve scored at least 110 points. Former Hawk and head coach Doc Rivers relies heavily on his starting unit, and Paul, Griffin, Jordan and J.J. Redick delivered with a combined 77 points on 51.8% shooting. Three members of that quartet (excepting Paul) exceeded their average floor time of 30-35 minutes per game.

The problem for Rivers is he has to keep a short rotation for a bench squad that, besides ex-Hawk Jamal Crawford (34.5 FG% and 22.6 3FG% in last 7 games), is a scrappy bunch, at best. The Clips are the only NBA team whose bench averages under 10 rebounds per game (9.8 team RPG) and under 2 offensive rebounds per game (1.2 team O-Rebs/game). Center Spencer Hawes has been sidelined with a bruised knee, and whenever either of Griffin or Jordan has to sit, the pickings are slim.

Rivers hasn’t gotten enough of a read on book club manager Ekpe Udoh to entrust him with major minutes. Glen Davis (4 steals last night) did his letter-best against San Antonio, working with Jordan Farmar and Crawford to erase a 17-point deficit, but the Clippers had no real answers for Manu Ginobili (19 points and 10 assists) or Boris Diaw (23 points in 25 minutes) when that duo came off the bench. Largely due to the lack of power from the bench options, belying the Clippers’ attention-getting frontcourt starters are a paltry 36.3 points-in-the-paint that ranks 28^th out of 30 NBA teams.

Pero Antić (4-for-6 3FGs, questionable for tonight with a sprained ankle) and perhaps ex-Clipper Elton Brand will have pivotal roles in helping steer things defensively in the Hawks’ favor, particularly doing their part to help Al Horford (17 points, 8-for-13 shooting against Dallas) and Paul Millsap (12 rebounds and 7 assists on Monday) stay out of foul trouble against Griffin and Jordan. Mike Scott was used sparingly against Dallas but can work with Dennis Schröder (career-high 22 points in Dallas) to help build an offensive advantage over J-Crossover and the Clippers’ reserves.

Right before the Mavericks made their last stand on Monday, Dallas tried in vain to get under the skin of DeMarre Carroll (three-straight double-digit scoring games), earning the Hawks one missed technical free throw. Undoubtedly, Matt Barnes, whose entire NBA raison d’etre is to troll, is scheming to sell wolf tickets to the Junkyard Dawg. Barnes knows he can give his team a chance if can help get the opponent’s glue-guy unglued. Barnes will also be switched up onto Kyle Korver (18 points, 3-for-6 3FGs at Dallas) on occasion, particularly if Redick struggles to keep up from the outset.

No more Chuck Woolery Collection outfits for Jeff Teague, who is a go for tonight’s action. Atlanta’s leading scorer and playmaker could provide the steadying presence the Hawks lacked last night in the final quarter against the Mavs. Similar to Schröder going up against his childhood idol last night, many Hawks fans fondly recall Jeff Teague’s coming-of-age games against his Wake Forest alum and seven-time All-Star. Like the November 2012 game, where Teague led the way with 19 points and 11 assists to help the Hawks prevail over the Clippers for the team’s fifth-straight win.

It’s hard to fathom that for all his accolades, CP3, the superstar and TV insurance pitchman, will reach age 30 in 2015 with a decade of basketball under his belt and as many Conference Finals appearances as his Demon Deacon protégé. Both Teague (16.8 PPG, 36.9 assist percentage, 58.8 TS%, all career-highs) and Paul (NBA-high 4.2 offensive win shares, career-high 60.1 TS%) are having fine seasons, yet only one leads a team presently playing above and beyond expectations.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours! Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3