Remember before the season started? How Dion Waiters, of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Bradley Beal, of today’s guests at the Highlight Factory, the Washington Wizards (3:00 PM Eastern, SportSouth, CSN Washington) were bickering back-and-forth over whose team had The Best Backcourt in the East? That was real cute.

Waiters has since been dispatched to the prairie, working to earn his way back into the starting lineup, only this time alongside Russell Westbrook instead of Kyrie Irving. While Beal is beginning to find his shooting touch, he’s been hot-and-cold ever since missing the start of the season with a fractured wrist, leaving a lot of the heavy lifting to John Wall. And while Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan should have waded into that discussion from the jump, there’s another duo that has emerged as a strong contender for Scariest Backcourt in the East, if not the best.

Jeff Teague’s net rating (offensive minus defensive rating) of +10.3 points per 100 possessions ranks as the highest among all Eastern Conference players. Third place belongs to his backcourt partner, Kyle Korver (+9.7), and in second place is a former Atlanta Hawk, Lou Williams (+9.9). Teague and Korver are mastering Mike Budenholzer’s offense and now have the Clevelands and Washingtons and Torontos of the world looking up at them, the Hawks (28-8) three games ahead of the Bulls, Raptors, and Wizards (25-11), entering this afternoon’s action.

Wall has held up his end of the Best Backcourt bargain. He prevailed for the first time in his matchups with fellow #1-overall pick Derrick Rose on Friday night, putting in 12 assists to go with 16 points and just 3 turnovers. The leading vote-getter at guard in the East for the All-Star Game has notched at least 10 points and 10 assists in an NBA-high 21 games. Rose has talked openly about the rivalries with Rose and Irving, all first-overall draft picks, which are sure to last a lifetime. But right now, there is at least one contemporary in his own division Wall ought to be paying attention to as well.

Wall (17.4 PPG, down from 19.1 in his first All-Star season in 2013-14) is shooting a career-high 45.7 FG%, but he has not yet found his range (29.9 3FG%), and he has not exceeded 20 points since the Wizards trounced the Knicks on Christmas Day. And the East’s premier point guard sensation (10.3 APG, 1^st in NBA, 2.1 SPG, 2^nd in NBA) has suddenly found himself having to share some accolades with the East’s reigning NBA Player of the Week.

As Rajon Rondo has moved on to Dallas, Wall now leads the East guards in points per-48 created by assist (32.7). But sandwiched between him and the Wizards’ Andre Miller in second place is Teague (26.1). While Wall’s ball handling skills help him get into the paint with ease, Teague makes 4.8 more forays to the basket on drives than Wall, producing 3.3 more team points per game. In the East, only Philly’s Tony Wroten and Atlanta’s Dennis Schröder score more on a per-48 basis via drives than Teague.

Wall has a superior assist-turnover ratio (2.8 A/TO, to Teague’s 2.5). But in clutch situations (last 5 minutes of games or overtime, ahead or behind by no more than 5 points) it is Teague (3.5 A/TO) who leads starting PGs in the East, while Wall finds defenses clamping in on him (1.7 A/TO). Back on November 25, Wall had 13 assists but seven of Washington’s 20 turnovers as Atlanta feasted on the Wizards’ sloppy play. Teague had only 3 assists as he rested while Shelvin Mack took over, but he did not turn the ball over once in the second half while pouring on 18 of his 28 points (12-for-14 FTs) in a 106-102 “upset” in the Capitol City.

Beal has buried seven of his last ten treys, and is shooting a career-high 47.7 3FG% (5^th in NBA), including 57.1% in his last five games this month. But as much as Wall struggles to shoot outside the perimeter, Beal is also maddeningly inefficient inside the arc (40.3 2FG%, a 3-year career-low). It is hard for coach Randy Wittman to diversify the Wizards’ offensive attack when his backcourt scorers have limited ranges. While Beal and season surprise Rasual Butler (49.6 3FG%, 3^rd in NBA) help the Wizards lead the league in three-point shooting (39.7 FG%), their team’s 15.5 attempts are next-to-last in the NBA. Coming off his third back surgery in four seasons, wingman Martell Webster has returned but has struggled to get up to speed.

The Hawks have to play strong defense at the mid-range, where the Wizards shoot 30.6 attempts per game (2^nd most in NBA), keeping Paul Pierce and Nene from heating up. They also have to keep Marcin Gortat (52.7 FG%, 5^th in East) and Kris Humphries off the offensive glass.

The Wizards are able to rely on strong defense to stay ahead of the game on most nights. Atlanta leads the league in assists and faces a Washington team whose opponents produce a league-low 17.9 APG. Nene and Gortat keep the interior closed, and Paul Pierce helps short-circuit drives for the Wizards, whose opponents collect an NBA-low 38.1 PPG in the paint. The Wizards’ frontcourt will try to force Atlanta into iso’s and force one-and-done possessions, given the Hawks produce an NBA-low 10.6 second-chance PPG.

Al Horford’s and Paul Millsap’s expanded range can help offset the Wizards’ mid-range attacks, also opening up the middle for what, for now, looks to be the Scariest Backcourt in the East.

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3