It happened before — and Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer knows all about it.
Five times in NBA history a No. 8 seed has upset a No. 1 seed in the first round of the playoffs. The Spurs were one such victim when the Grizzlies ousted them in 2012. Budenholzer was a longtime assistant with the Spurs before assuming control of the Hawks this season. He was there then. He is here now.
Budenholzer leads the No. 8 Hawks against the No. 1 Pacers in a best-of-seven series that begins at 7 p.m. Saturday in Indianapolis.
The Hawks need four wins to eliminate the Pacers, so here are four reasons they can win:
Jeff Teague: The point guard is the on-floor leader and sets the tempo. When Teague plays at a high level, the Hawks generally follow. He has shown an increasing ability to be aggressive and get into the paint. Once there, he has either finished, dished for the pick-and-roll or pick-and-pop or gotten the ball to one of the 3-point shooters.
Teague was inconsistent at times during the season, especially after Al Horford went down with a torn pectoral muscle. However, he has been very good of late. Teague recently won Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors while averaging 20.3 points, 5.8 assists and 1.8 steals. He has scored in double-figures in the past 12 games, the longest stretch of his career. He finished the regular season with an average of 6.7 assists per game, ninth in the NBA.
Teague scored 25 points in a playoff-clinching victory over the Heat last week.
“It always sets the tone when he goes out there and pushes the tempo, and (when) he attacks … it’s good for us,” Paul Millsap said of Teague after the game against the Heat. “That’s what we need from him.”
Success from 3-point range: The Hawks are hard to beat when they convert from beyond the 3-point arc, a staple of the offense. In 45 games this season, the Hawks made nine or more 3-pointers. They won 25 of those games — or 65.8 percent of their 38-win total.
Kyle Korver led the league with a 3-point field-goal percentage of .472. When Korver missed six games because of back spasms in March, the Hawks lost each time.
It’s not just Korver who needs to be accurate from long range. The Hawks get their biggest boosts when other players make 3-pointers — especially big men such as Millsap, Pero Antic and Mike Scott. Antic may be the key from the center position. He has batted a sore right ankle for much of the second half of the season. He has made only 11 3-pointers in his past 14 games played (he did not play in three other games) and three of those were in one game.
If DeMarre Carroll can make the 3-pointer as he has at times this season, it will be an added bonus for the Hawks.
Millsap is a factor: The Hawks split the season series with the Pacers, 2-2, despite Millsap's struggles on offense. The All-Star power forward averaged 17.9 points per game this season. However, against the Pacers he scored four, seven and seven points, respectively, in the first three meetings. He finished with 17 points in the Hawks' 19-point win at Indiana on April 6.
Millsap contributed with his rebounding in the four games, as he totaled 37 boards, and with his defense. However, the Hawks need his scoring because the Pacers’ offense possesses several weapons.
The Hawks’ offense has bogged down at times this season, and they have consistently looked to Millsap for a hard-fought basket down low. He may be called on to do so again, even with the Pacers’ size advantage.
Millsap had to take games off to rest a nagging right thumb injury.
The slide: Yes, the Pacers are the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a 56-26 record. They won their final two games to clinch the best record and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs over the Heat.
But they sure didn’t end the season the way they began it.
The Pacers won 16 of their first 17 games. They won their first nine and after a loss to the Bulls won the next seven. The Hawks’ longest win streak of the season was five games.
However, the Pacers won only 10 of their final 23 games, including a two-game win streak to end the season. The Pacers proved to be beatable down the stretch. Their losing ways included a 19-point loss to the Hawks in Indianapolis on April 6. Coach Frank Vogel benched all five starters midway through the first quarter. All-Star center Roy Hibbert played only nine minutes before he was benched with no points and no rebounds.
The Pacers have a different chemistry since trading for Evan Turner at the deadline. There has been finger-pointing in the locker room about playing selfish basketball.
