It’s back to Indianapolis.
There will be a Game 7 after the Hawks failed to clinch the playoff series on their home court and dropped 95-88 decision to the Pacers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference first-round matchup Thursday night at Philips Arena. The series is tied 3-3 as both teams have won twice on the opposition’s home floor.
The deciding game will be Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
Some players could be missing from the deciding game, including Pacers’ All-Star Paul George, following an upcoming NBA review of a second-quarter altercation. The Hawks have been informed that the league will review an incident late in the period between the Hawks’ Mike Scott and the Pacers’ George Hill. The league will look at whether Hill poked Scott in the eye that started a shoving match and whether two Pacers – George and Rasual Butler, left the bench area and stepped onto the court in the fracas.
The Pacers won the do-or-die game by outscoring the Hawks 16-4 over the final 3:15. The Hawks led by five points, 84-79, when the Pacers answered with six straight points and took a one-point lead, 85-84, with under two minutes remaining. The Pacers would take advantage of numerous Hawks’ execution issues down the stretch and led by as many as eight points.
“I think we got stagnant on the offensive end,” Jeff Teague said. “They made some big plays and came down and scored some big baskets but we got stagnant and stopped playing with a lot of pace and movement. If we do that, it’s easy to guard.”
After holding the five-point lead, the Hawks went 0-for-4 from the field and had two turnovers. David West (eight points) and Hill and George (four points each) scored the final 16 points for the Pacers.
“The effort was there,” Paul Millsap said. “The execution wasn’t there on offense. They made plays. Our defense wasn’t that great down the stretch. We’ve just got to get better at it.”
Teague led the Hawks with a game-high 29 points. Paul Millsap had 16 points, 18 rebounds and five assists. Lou Williams had 13 points off the bench, including eight in the fourth quarter.
West and George each had 24 points for the Pacers.
The Hawks lost their second straight home playoff game in the series. They missed a chance to take a 3-1 lead Saturday and let an opportunity to win the series get away Thursday. Now, the eighth-seeded Hawks will have to win a third time on the top-seeded Pacers home court.
“We need to get to the next game and get our focus and get prepared,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “I think that we’ve responded well all year when we’ve been in difficult situations. Part of our response is going to have to be better execution and I think we have a lot of positive reference points from all year. Our group has been very good and very resilient. We have a lot of confidence in our group and this is the next challenge for us.”
The Hawks trailed by as many as nine points, 57-48, midway through the third quarter.
And then they came to life.
They closed the quarter on a 19-7 run with Teague scoring 12 of the points, including 8 of the last 10. They led 67-64 headed into the final period.
The Hawks were aided by two key moments in the run. George picked up his fourth foul and had to go to the bench at the 5:09 mark. Minutes later, Scott threw down a thunderous dunk over Ian Mahinmi with 3:19 remaining in the period. Posters will be available soon.
The Hawks led by as many as 10 points in the first quarter. They have had a double-digit at some point in all six games of the series. The Pacers erased the deficit with a 14-2 run between the first and second quarter.
The shoving match between Scott and Hill came with 19 seconds left in the second quarter after they got tangled up underneath the Hawks basket.
“He put his finger in my face,” Scott said. “He put his finger on me and I was defending myself.”
Television replays show Hill initiating a shove of Scott. Pacers coach Frank Vogel ran onto the court to separate the players. During the fracas, replays show George and Butler stepped onto the court. They could face a suspension for leaving the bench in the vicinity of an on-court altercation as the NBA reviews the incident. There is precedent, even in the playoffs, for a suspension for stepping onto the court during an incident.
Scott and Hill were assessed technical fouls and Scott was also called for a common foul.
“I haven’t seen it,” Vogel said of the replay. “Somebody told me about it. I’m not concerned about any suspensions until I hear something.”
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