RECAP: Atlanta Hawks Rally In the Fourth Quarter To Outpace Indiana Pacers In Clutch 122-115 Win

Tonight's game was going to be a tough test for Atlanta. A cold stretch of offense in the clutch sealed a close loss to the Bucks on Tuesday night, but their game against the Indiana Pacers was an excellent opportunity to rebound against a strong Eastern Conference playoff team. After a slow start to the season, the Pacers have put it together as of late and look like a real force in the East. They're arguably a more complete team than last year's Eastern Conference Finals team and their trio of Tyrese Haliburton, Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner can match up with almost anyone. It should be noted that the Hawks did not play the full-strength Pacers - Haliburton was ruled out with a hip injury.

Thankfully, they took care of business. After being on the receiving end of a fourth quarter run by the Bucks, they used an excellent performance in the fourth quarter to send the Pacers packing. Georges Niang led the team with 24 points off the bench (including four threes), but Trae Young racked up 22 points and 16 assists. Onyeka Okongwu only missed one attempt from the field on accumulated a 20-point, 13-rebound double-double. Zaccharie Risacher finished as a team-high +16 with 11 points on 3/3 shooting from deep while Dyson Daniels had 17 points. Mo Gueye played excellent defense and recorded 4 stocks (3 steals, one block) in his minutes. They also got nice bench minutes from Terance Mann, who finished with 12 points.

For Indiana, Siakam led all scorers with 35 points on 12-18 shooting while grabbing nine rebounds. Atlanta had no answer for him, but they were able to still get the win. Andrew Nembhard had a double-double with 15 points and 10 assists while Aaron Nesmith finished with 21 points. Myles Turner had 17, but the rest of Indiana's offense was largely ineffective and they couldn't get the necessary defensive stops late. Their bench finished with a combined 22 points, which Niang eclipsed on his own.

Let's recap tonight's game.

The Hawks opened the game with a starting lineup of Young, Daniels, Risacher, Mo Gueye and Okongwu. Young got Atlanta going by finding an open Gueye for an easy bucket in the paint. Both teams were relatively even for the first half of the opening quarter. Even though Indiana held a slight advantage with a 15-11 lead, there were some solid moments for Atlanta. Risacher hit a catch-and-shoot three on the perimeter with little hesitation. His shot from deep continues to look smooth and he's been able to give Atlanta some legitimate spacing despite his young age.

Even though it wasn't a great performance from Indiana from deep, they still managed to make it difficult for Atlanta to take the lead. Siakam had 8 points in the quarter and nine different Pacers scored in a balanced offensive attack that masked a quiet scoring quarter from Turner. The offense largely looked listless (only 21 points on 23 possessions), but Young gave them a spark at the end of the quarter. He hit two free throws before hitting a buzzer-beater stepback jumper on the next possession. Indiana controlled the first quarter, 31-21, but the Hawks had some momentum heading into the second quarter.

That momentum carried over almost immediately - Niang opened the quarter with a three-pointer off the feed from Risacher before the Pacers made it a 10-point game again. Fortunately, Terance Mann's first make of the night - a 24-foot three-pointer - came at the perfect time for Atlanta. It sparked a 9-0 run to give them a 40-38 lead before Indiana was forced to call a timeout. Mann was excellent during the run, accounting for four of those points. The Pacers tied it up on free throws from Turner, but Mann nailed a floater to give Atlanta the lead back. Turner again hit a three-pointer to give Indiana a 47-44 lead, but Caris LeVert answered with four straight points to right the ship for the Hawks. It was LeVert's first points of the night, which is pretty surprising considering how vital he has been as a bench scorer for Atlanta. The Hawks don't win against Memphis without his 25-point performance, so a quiet night for him certainly does not bode well for the offense. Even so, he hit another layup to give Atlanta a slim lead before Daniels hit a floater to give Atlanta a 53-49 lead. Unfortunately, Atlanta lost the lead at the 1:27 mark on a jumper from T.J McConnell and never quite got it back for the rest of the half. A late three-pointer from Niang did little to change that as the Hawks went into the locker room with a 56-63 deficit.

As has become standard, the Hawks did not shoot the ball particularly well throughout the first half. They ended the half by shooting 47.1% from the field and 31.3% from deep. Only five of their sixteen shots actually connected. They also got out-hustled on the boards - Indiana had 19 defensive rebounds to their 13 and out-rebounded them, 27-22. Conversley, the Pacers shot 51.1% from the field and 90% from the free throw line. They also had a dismal three-point percentage of 33.3%, but they were able to stay in it due to their variety of offensive options. Aaron Wiggins and Andrew Nembhard both came up with shots when needed while Jarace Walker did well as a rebounder.

Indiana showed no signs of slipping early in the third quarter. Nesmith nailed a three-pointer to open things up for the Pacers and give them a ten-point lead. However, Atlanta went on a 9-0 run fueled by Young and Risacher. Young found Okongwu for a big-time dunk while hitting another step-back. That set Risacher up to bury his second three-pointer of the night off the pass from Daniels. Daniels found Risacher again for the layup to put some pressure on the Pacers, but Nembhard bailed them out again by finding Siakam for a timely three-pointer. His playmaking was on full display tonight - he did a very good job of stepping in for Haliburton as a facilitator and Atlanta could not bait him into sloppy turnovers. It gave the Pacers a 69-65 lead that Nembhard extended yet again by hitting his first three-pointer of the second half.

Even so, the Hawks' offense did an admirable job of keeping pace. Daniels did a good job of keeping Atlanta afloat and they never let the lead balloon out of control. However, their inability to get stops really put a lot of pressure on the offense. Fortunately, they were able to mount a solid response halfway into the third quarter. After a Nembhard three-point play made it a 77-69 game, Daniels and Gueye made it a four-point game with buckets of their own. Okongwu connected on a hook shot to give the Hawks some more life before Young made it a 79-78 game with an and-one of his own. The Hawks took the lead on consecutive jumpers from LeVert and Daniels before LeVert had a resounding block on McConnell's attempt to respond. There was some officiating controversy over the block, but head coach Quin Snyder challenged the call and got it overturned in their favor. Unfortunately, Indiana went on a 12-0 run fueled by Siakam that erased the momentum Atlanta had. They never really found it again in the third quarter and went into the fourth quarter down, 94-86.

If the Hawks' offense sputtered throughout the latter half of the third quarter, things looked very different in the fourth. Okongwu got Atlanta going with a easy bucket after Young found him under the rim and got fouled in the process. He sank the free throw, making it clear that the Hawks were not going to let this one slip away. Two jumpers from Walker and Nembhard were all that the Pacers got on offense for the large majority of the fourth quarter. Atlanta had an excellent two-way stretch where they went on a 17-6 run punctuated by six different Hawks scoring baskets. However, the momentum really flipped once Risacher nailed his third three-pointer of the night off the feed from LeVert. Turner hit free throws after that to give Indiana a narrow lead, but Niang nailed two three-pointers in quick succession. After taking a 104-102 lead, the Hawks never trailed again and answered every make from Indiana with one of their own. Siakam made it somewhat of a game by scoring four points on back-to-back possession to bring Indiana to a 115-120 deficit. However, Okongwu ended the game on free throws and hit both of them to give Atlanta a much-needed win.

With this win, the Hawks are one step closer towards securing a top-8 seed and a better path through the postseason. They're currently the 8th seed due to the Magic losing, but they need to hold onto that spot. At this stage, every win matters for them and it means more when they're able to get it done against one of the better teams in the East. The Pacers certainly missed Haliburton tonight, but the Hawks put up 38 points in the fourth quarter. That made the difference.

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