Indiana Pacers overcome 20-point deficit to take down Atlanta Hawks in high-scoring battle
The Indiana Pacers took on the Hawks in Atlanta on Tuesday night for In-Season Tournament action. The Pacers had an easy situation in front of them: with a win, they would clinch first-place in Eastern Conference Group A.
With that significant objective in mind, and Indiana getting embarrassed two nights ago, the Pacers changed their starting lineup entering the game. Buddy Hield and Aaron Nesmith moved into the starting five for Obi Toppin and Bennedict Mathurin. The new-look starting unit, which also contained Tyrese Haliburton, Bruce Brown, and Myles Turner, entered the game with a +/- of +14 in 18 minutes on the season.
To begin the game, Nesmith and Hield each hit a three. It was 6-0 after two Pacers possessions, and the new starters had all the points.
The Hawks answered with a 13-4 run, though, to take an early lead. This game was destined to be high scoring given the personnel and style of both groups, and it was a rapid game through four minutes.
Unlike Sunday, where the Pacers were crushed, they were playing their style early on Tuesday. Haliburton was getting the team going, and everyone else was active and playing randomly. When Indiana plays like that, they are hard to beat.
After six minutes, the blue and gold were ahead 20-17. They started strong offensively. Whichever team got a few stops first was going to have a big advantage.
Neither team could get those stops as the first quarter continued. The Hawks offense was more potent throughout the first 12 minutes, and they led 40-34 after one frame. Indiana's first quarter defense has been poor for a while.
The second quarter began with a Hawks run. They went into a zone defense, and that adjustment was enough for them to get a few stops. The Pacers' new-look bench doesn't have a lot of shooting, so they were struggling to score. Atlanta led 47-37 after 80 seconds of the second frame, and that prompted an Indiana timeout.
It didn't change much. Atlanta remained hot, and Bogdan Bogdanovic couldn't miss. With 7:30 to go in the second quarter, the Hawks wing had 16 points on just eight shot attempts. He was on fire.
The Pacers missed a few open threes later in the second quarter, and the Hawks continued to make their triples. With 3:25 to go in the first half, Atlanta took a 20-point lead at 78-58. Indiana's defense looked terrible.
The blue and gold were a little better for the final minutes of the half, but they were already in a big hole. They trailed 86-73 at halftime. Trailing by 13 despite scoring 73 points in a half is hard to fathom.
Atlanta set their franchise record for points in a half with their 86. They shot 62.3% from the field and made 10 threes. Indiana had to defend better in the second half if they wanted to win. Bogdanovic (22) and Haliburton (11) were their team's leading scorers at halftime.
The third quarter started with a Pacers run. They were on fire from deep, hitting four of their first five shots from long range in the second half. They got a few stops at the same time and cut the Atlanta lead to eight.
That caused a timeout for Hawks head coach Quin Snyder. He wanted to regroup and make sure his group kept their foot on the gas. For a bit, it steadied the ship, but he couldn't get his team to slow down Haliburton.
With 5:21 to go in the third frame, the Pacers star guard hit a three to cut Atlanta's lead to five. It was Haliburton's 15th points of the second half, and that got him to 26 for the game. He was on fire and leading a comeback with his offensive brilliance.
Indiana's defensive adjustments — more attention on Trae Young and Dejounte Murray — had worked to that point in the half. Suddenly, the road team had life again, but they still had work to do.
A few moments later, they finally erased the Hawks deficit. Haliburton, of course, hit a deep three to tie the game at 107. After a miserable defensive first half, Indiana found a way to get back in the game. Their star was leading the way.
Haliburton remained hot and got Indiana a lead before the end of the third quarter. He scored 26 points in the third period, a Pacers franchise record, and Indiana led 119-114 after three quarters. The All-Star point guard was electric to lead the comeback.
After some early buckets in the fourth quarter, Indiana took a 10-point lead. It was their largest lead of the game at the time, and they needed to keep it up to get the win.
Their offense kept rolling as the quarter progressed, but the Hawks got hot as well. Atlanta slowly cut into the lead, which was as high as 13. With five minutes to play, the Pacers advantage was down to three.
A Young triple cut the Pacers lead to one with 2:30 to go, but Obi Toppin answered with a dunk. Both teams couldn't miss down the stretch, and the score kept climbing higher.
Young hit a long two to give Atlanta a 150-149 lead late, but Hield answered with a three. With one minute to go, the score was tied at 152.
Hield hit another three right after to give the Pacers a lead with under one minute to go, he had a huge night. At that point, Hield had 22 points and had not yet missed a three. He was huge all night, and that shot settled Indiana down a bit.
The Pacers got a stop via an offensive foul on the next Hawks possession, and they had a chance to ice the game. But Haliburton turned it over and gave Atlanta a chance. Murray missed a layup, though, and Indiana was able to run out the clock.
They held on for a 157-152 win, an unreal score. The Pacers improved to 8-5 and officially won their In-Season Tournament group. Haliburton finished with 37 points and 16 assists.
They host the Toronto Raptors in Indianapolis tomorrow night.
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