INDIANAPOLIS---At least it was quick tonight when the 13-6 Atlanta Hawks traveled to Indianapolis, Indiana, to face the 7-13 Indiana Pacers.
Last season, the Atlanta Hawks put up a tough fight in the 1st Round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs and even had a three games to 2 games lead against the team they face tonight, the Indiana Pacers. The series went to seven games but ultimately the number one seed prevailed by winning Game 6 in Atlanta and Game 7 back at home sending Jeff Teague and his team to the offseason as expected at the beginning of the series. Since last year, Atlanta has improved their roster by picking up "offensive stopper", Thabo Sefolosha from Oklahoma City and keeping all their starters. So far this season the Hawks are 13-6 with four of their losses coming to good, experienced teams like the San Antonio Spurs, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Toronto Raptors (twice). This team has came out on a mission to not only make the playoffs but contend for the Eastern Conference title. Atlanta comes in hotter than the weather during an afternoon game at Turner Field as they have won their last six games (vs. New Orleans, vs. Charlotte, vs. Boston, at Miami, at Brooklyn, vs. Denver) coming in. The key to the Hawks success has been how good their starting lineup has been. They start five year veteran Jeff Teague at the point guard spot who is one of the best in the Eastern Conference at not only scoring but also facilitating. Then throw in one of the best three point shooters to ever play the game in Kyle Korver (13.5 PPG) with three strong, tough players at the forward and center spots (DeMarre Carroll 11.7 PPG, Al Horford 12.8 PPG, Paul Millsap 17.1 PPG) and the Hawks are set to fight with the Wizards and Heat for the Southeast Division crown.
The Pacers were on the upswing after starting the season 1-6. They had just beaten Orlando at home giving them their sixth win in nine games with Roy Hibbert probable to return against Cleveland the next night. Everything was going well until they actually played the Cavaliers, which started a road trip now described by one word, horrid. They were blown out in the Cleveland and Phoenix respectively by a total of 29 points. Then they headed North to Portland where they played in a low scoring game against the Trail Blazers. Both teams shot a dreadful 39% from the field but eventually when the fourth quarter came along Damion Lillard got his shots to fall in route to a 23-point, 8-rebound performance that gave the Blazers the 88-82 win. One more to go until returning home, could Indiana steal a win at Sleep Train Arena against the Kings? The game had the early looks of a blowout despite All-Star Center DeMarcus Cousins out for the Kings. Then all of a sudden out of no where, the Pacers found themselves down two with 39 seconds by chipping away at the Kings lead that was at one point fourteen. Coach Frank Vogel drew up a play for Kings Killer, David West, who averaged twenty plus points in his career when playing Sacramento coming into the game. West caught the ball and fired a jumpshot that tied the game at 96 with 28 seconds left. The Kings would have a chance to win the game though. They wasted the clock down and then started the play. The ball was in the hands of Rudy Gay who fired the game winner...and missed. Gay was really upset as he was hacked on the arm when following through on his shot. He pleaded to the referees but to no avail, now it was the Pacers turn to have a chance to win at the buzzer. The final play of regulation went David West. West caught the ball off the inbounds and then fired a fade away jumper that this time was off the mark. The Kings and Pacers were going to overtime. Indiana had the lead for the majority of overtime thanks to C.J. Watson, who scored five points in the five minute period. There was left than a minute less and Sacramento had the ball. Gay ran the clock down and dribbled to his left, which worked him right into a spin move over his left shoulder. He took one more dribble and fired a heavily contested jump shot. The attempt was short and went off the rim into the hands of Sacramento's Carl Landry. Landry grabbed the rebound, gathered, and layed it gently off glass to give the Kings a one point lead with .8 seconds left. The Pacers had one more oppurtunity off the inbound play but the off balanced shot was wide-right. Sacramento survived in a thriller that sent the Pacers back to Indiana 0-4 on their roadtrip. Tonight would be a battle between one team trending downward and the other upward.
The game started off with a Roy Hibbert turnover that was snatched by Indianapolis native, Jeff Teague, who dished it to Kyle Korver. BANG! 3-0 Atlanta...that was fast. Then Paul Millsap stripped the ball from Indiana's Rodney Stuckey and passed the ball to Al Horford who drained a mid range jumper. 5-0 Atlanta. The Pacers raced back from Atlanta's beginning game run and took a 6-5 lead on a Roy Hibbert jumpshot. Maybe the Pacers would hang around with Atlanta. Then, out of nowhere a dreadlocked man that was not Chris Copeland started making treys for the Hawks
DeMarre Carroll had bounced around from Western Conference team to Western Conference team after being drafted from Missouri University with the 27th pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. He never received a chance to start regularly until he reached Atlanta last season. Carroll started all 73 games he played in as the Hawks welcomed his two-way game with open arms. He averaged 11.1 PPG and 5.5 RPG in his first season with the Hawks and this year he is on the same pace. The Missouri alumni missed his first three point attempt of the game but got into a rythem about halfway through the first quarter. Carroll made his presence known by draining three three-pointers in a span of less than three minutes to help Atlanta on a 15-5 run to give them a 24-14 advantage over Indiana with 2:45 left in the first.
In the second quarter the story was not about DeMarre Carroll but rather the bench play of Atlanta. The reserves of the Hawks increased the lead from 28-18 to 38-21 causing Indiana's coach, Frank Vogel, to call a timeout. When the starters returned for Atlanta, the baskets continued to be made by Korver, Horford and Teague. Teague finally woke up from his slow first quarter to score eight of Atlanta's last ten second-quarter points to rejuvenate their lead to 17 points going into halftime.
Coming out of halftime more of the same occurred as Teague with Al Horford continued to make basket after basket. The two man wrecking crew ended up scoring 16 of Atlanta's 25 points in the third quarter moving the Hawks lead to a game-high 21 points.
Although the Pacers were down a huge margin, they kept on fighting. Indiana started a 14-7 run behind C.J. Miles who caught fire from beyond the arc in a four minute span to begin the fourth. Miles drained three three-pointers collecting 9 of his Pacer-high 15 points in the stretch. The Atlanta lead was down to thirteen points with eight minutes left, that is a do-able deficit to come back from. The obstacle for the Pacers was that they would now have to outscore the Hawks' starters rather than backups since they were put back into the game. Specifically, Teague laid the big blows in the last quarter with assists leading to points. Back to back assists from the Wake Forest point guard gave Atlanta a seventeen-point lead while ending the Pacers comeback run. Indiana failed to counter with another run and the game ended with the final score of Atlanta 108, Indiana 92.
Returns to Indy
Two players on the Hawks that had connections to the Indianapolis area that playing tonight include Shelvin Mack and Jeff Teague. Mack played on both NCAA Men's Basketball Finalist Butler Bulldog teams. He had a spectaular career while calling Hinkle Fieldhouse his home as he scored a thousand points while averaging double figures in all of his three seasons. Mack forwent his senior season at Butler after the 2011 NCAA Championship loss against Connecticut to go to the NBA. Mack struggled shooting tonight in his return as he only scored three points but he did have four assists. One hometown kid that did not struggle was Jeff Teague. Seen around the stadium were Teague shirts and jerseys from when he played for Wake Forest as well as his current team the Atlanta Hawks. Teague played for the Pike Red Devils in high school where he averaged 22 points, 4 assists, and 2 steals per game his senior season. Suprisingly, Teague chose Wake Forest for college over Indiana so he could play with James Johnson who is also in the NBA, now playing with the Toronto Raptors. Teague shot very efficiently tonight (8 for 11 from the field) and scored 21 points while also having 7 assists.
Sputtering at the Starting Line?
In Indiana's loss tonight against Atlanta and last Friday against Sacramento the Pacers scored a total of 38 points in the first quarter, 18 and 20 respectively, while being down at least ten points heading into the second.
What's Next
Atlanta will almost certainly extend their current win streak to ten with their next three games coming against Phiadelphia at home Wednesday, Orlando at home Friday, and Orlando at the Amway Center on Saturday. After those three easy games, the Hawks better buckle up because turbulence is coming. After Orlando, Atlanta hosts the Bulls on Monday while then starting a three game road trip with the tough opponents of Cleveland, Houston, and Dallas. Soon the Hawks will find out how good they really are.
Indiana is right now the coldest team in the NBA since the Philadelphia 76ers are actually on a one game winning streak. The Pacers have now lost five straight games with the opportunity of wins coming in the future looking bleak. On Wednesday, Indiana hosts "Lob City" a.k.a. the Los Angeles Clippers (Article Going to be Posted Wednesday Night) and then head to Canada two days later to play one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, the Toronto Raptors. The Pacers then play Portland on the back end of a back to back on Saturday night in Indianapolis. All three games will be tough for Indiana as they are the underdog in all of them.
Players of the Game:
Atlanta: Al Horford 25 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 blocks.
Indiana: Rodney Stuckey 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists.
Coming Up:
Atlanta: Hosts the 2-18 Philadelphia 76ers at the Phillips Arena.
Indiana: Hosts the 15-5 Los Angeles Clippers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
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