Different city. Different game.
Much different result.
The Hawks returned home and got back in their playoff series with the Pacers in a big way with an impressive 90-69 victory Saturday night at Philips Arena. The Hawks now trail the best-of-seven Eastern Conference series 2-1 after the Pacers opened with a pair of home wins.
Faced with the prospect of losing the first three games, a deficit from which no team in NBA history has recovered, the Hawks led by as many as 28 points in the rout. Game 4 will be Monday. The victory also forces a Game 5 in Indiana on Wednesday.
“This team has done something they’ve done all year long and that’s respond,” coach Larry Drew said. “After two losses in Indiana and coming home, which I really felt this group would respond, they came out early and the energy was there.”
Al Hoford led the Hawks with a game-high and playoff career-best 26 points and 16 rebounds, his16th career playoff double-double. Josh Smith added 14 points and Jeff Teague had 13 points.
Smith, despite picking up three quick fouls to start the second half, defended Pacers All-Star Paul George much of the game.
George finished with 16 points for the Pacers.
“I thought Josh was unbelievable with his energy and focus,” Kyle Korver said. “If you look at this stat sheet that was probably his worst game of this series but it was, hands down, the best he’s played in this series. Not even close. When he plays like that he just wins the game.”
David West had 18 points for the Pacers, who shot .272 from the field (22 of 81). It was the lowest field goal percentage and field goals made allowed in Hawks playoff history.
The Hawks took a 54-30 lead into intermission after an up-tempo first half.
After trailing 8-1 to start the game, the Hawks went on a 42-10 run between the first and second quarters and led by 25 points, 43-18. The domination included a 22-2 run. The Pacers went 4:57 without scoring in a stretch to end the first and start the second quarter.
When the Hawks took an 11-9 lead with 5:11 remaining in the first quarter it marked the latest they had led in the series. When they took an eight-point lead, 22-14 with 1:54 left in the opening period, it marked their biggest lead of the series.
The 30 points allowed to the Pacers is the lowest point total given up in a first half in Hawks playoff history.
The game nearly got out of control midway through the second quarter. Ivan Johnson blocked a West shot and Horford gathered the rebound and raced up court. West shoved Horford from behind, sending the big man sliding across the floor. Teague immediately got in the face of West and both teams had to be separated. West was called for a Flagrant I foul and Teague got a technical.
“I was moving pretty fast,” Horford said. “I got by him and he just brought me down. I was going so fast. I don’t know if it was dirty. I was going so fast I didn’t have a chance to catch myself. … It was a hard foul. It’s the playoffs. The intensity of it, that’s what happens.”
Horford scored 20 points from that point on.
Teague said he had a message to deliver after the foul.
“I let him know that we weren’t going anywhere,” Teague said. “He pushed Al and I was letting him know that we are going to fight too. We are not going to give up.”
The Hawks started Johan Petro at center but the seven-footer played just six minutes in the first half. Johnson played the rest of the half. He had seven rebounds, just one foul, and Pacers 7-2 center Roy Hibbert did not have a first-half point. Hibbert finished with eight points and nine rebounds. The Hawks also held George Hill, who averaged 20 points in the first two games, to just three points.
“Strength,” Johnson said of why he was successful. “You’ve got to have strength to keep him out of the paint. He’s a heavy load. He’s 7-2. That’s a lot of weight. I did some extra push-ups.”
It’s likely the Hawks will continue using the big starting lineup.
“I don’t want to tip our hand, but it’s probably a safe bet,” Devin Harris said.
