Atlanta Gives Up 157 Points in Season Finale to Indiana; Will Face Chicago In NBA Play In Tournament Wednesday
While they did not have anything to play for, the Atlanta Hawks were hoping to end their five-game losing streak and get a win vs the Indiana Pacers, a team they have not played well against all season. Indiana was hoping to remain in the top six in the Eastern Conference standings and did not want to lose to Atlanta.
The Hawks defense made sure that they did not have a chance in this game.
From the start of the game, the Hawks could not guard the Pacers, allowing Indiana to get anything they wanted. Atlanta did not play poorly on offense, but it was so bad on the other end of the court that they trailed for much of this game and ended up getting blown out. Atlanta ends its regular season on a six-game losing streak and they are not playing like a team that will inspire much confidence in the play-in tournament this week. This would be the second time this season that the Hawks gave up at least 150 points to Indiana.
Let's recap today's miserable afternoon.
The starting lineup for the Hawks today was Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, De'Andre Hunter, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Bruno Fernando. Fernando got the start with Capela out.
Indiana started Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam, and Myles Turner.
Atlanta has had trouble matching up with the Pacers this year and that was not more evident than in the first half of this game and more specifically the first quarter.
Indiana raced out to an 8-0 lead only two minutes in the game and before the Hawks knew it, they were trailing 31-15 and there was stil five minutes left in the quarter. It was an awful start defensively and Fernando had a tough start to the game on both ends. He picked up two quick fouls, which meant Mouhamed Gueye got in the game quicker than expected, but he made the most of his minutes. Gueye was the lone bright spot in the first quarter for the Hawks, scoring 10 points.
The problem was, the Hawks allowed Indiana to score an unthinkable 49 points in the first quarter, shooting 74% from the field and 55% from three. Myles Turner picked up some early fouls, but still scored 11 points, Siakam had 10 points and T.J. McConnell came off the bench to score seven. Indiana led 49-34 and Atlanta had no answers for them.
The second quarter was the Hawks's best of the game by far and they got right back in the game. Atlanta got on a 16-3 run to cut the lead to one point, 62-61. The guy leading the charge for the Hawks was Murray, who would go on to score 20 points in the second quarter.
After Atlanta cut into the lead, Indiana went on another big run quickly and led 86-72 at the half. Atlanta scored 72 points in the first half, but trailed by double-digits at halftime. Everything about the first half defense was horrible, but it was only begining.
Atlanta shot 55% from the field and 44% from three in the first half. Murray had 22 points, Gueye had a career-high 13 in the first half, and Young and Bogdanovic had 10 each.
The numbers for Indiana's offense were staggering. The Pacers shot 64% in the first half from the field and 45% from three. Turner had 18 points and eight rebounds, Siakam had 17 points, Haliburton had 12 points and eight assists, and McConnell had 12 off the bench.
The third quarter is where the game was officially put away.
The Pacers continued to punish the Hawks poor defense and the Hawks offense went cold. Atlanta shot 30% from the field and 20% from three, while the Pacers shot 70% from the field and 67% from three. The best thing to come out of the second half was that Trae Young surpassed Doc Rivers to become the all-time assist leader in Atlanta Hawks history.
The Hawks were outscored 39-21 in the third quarter and that was a wrap on the game. The starters played far longer than I would have thought in the fourth quarter, but the Pacers would roll over the Hawks for a 42 point win. It was an embarrassing final game for the Hawks and their 6th straight loss to end the regular season.
For the game, Atlanta shot 44% from the field and 33% from three. Murray led the way with 32 points, Gueye had 19 points, and Bogdanovic had 18. Hawks head coach Quin Snyder praised Gueye for his performance today, one of the few bright spots for Atlanta.
It will now be a do-or-die week for Atlanta. They will head to Chicago to play the Bulls in the first play-in game on Wednesday at 9:30. If they were to win that, they would face the loser of the 76ers/Heat matchup on Wednesday. If they win both games, they will travel to Boston to face the No.1 seeded Celtics for a first-round matchup.
