The Hawks mastery of the Pacers in Atlanta continues.
It wasn’t easy.
The Hawks defeated the Pacers for the 13th straight time at Philips Arena, including Games 3 and 4 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series. The latest was a 102-91 win Monday night that evened the best-of-seven series 2-2 despite nearly losing a 19-point lead.
The series continues with Game 5 Wednesday in Indiana. Game 6 will be back in Atlanta Friday.
“Energy, effort and if we play together, those three things, we are a pretty good basketball team,” said Josh Smith, who led the Hawks’ offensive and defensive efforts. “It’s not always going to work defensively. We not going to always run the defense play to the T every time. The way we scrambled out of double-teams, the way we helped each other out when the dribble drove, we contested pretty much every jump shot they took. That’s what it’s going to take to compete in their arena.”
The Hawks did themselves no favors by shooting just 25 of 38 from the free-throw line. At one point in the fourth quarter the Hawks had missed as many free throws (12) as the Pacers had taken.
Smith scored a playoff career-high 29 points and added 11 rebounds, four assists, three steals and one block. Kyle Korver finished with 19 points and Al Horford added 18 points.
Paul George had 21 points for the Pacers, 18 in the second half, as Smith once again limited the All-Star effectiveness.
The Hawks 19-point first-half lead dwindled to five points several times in the fourth quarter. They got huge 3-pointers from Anthony Tolliver, Smith and Korver to regain some breathing room. Smith drained a 3-pointer with 3:03 remaining and Korver hit one with 2:34 left. Smith’s fast-break dunk with 1:07 remaining put the Hawks up 96-87 and closed out the game.
The Hawks went ice cold in the third quarter and nearly lost all of a 17-point halftime lead. The Pacers outscored the Hawks 22-12 coming out of the intermission and trailed 69-62 going into the final quarter.
The Hawks managed just three field goals in the third period (15 percent, 3 of 20). Horford, who had to sit most of the third quarter after picking up his fourth foul, dunked with 10:05 remaining to give the Hawks a 62-46 lead. They would not score another field goal until a Devin Harris layup with 1:35 remaining in the period – a span of 8:30. In between the only offense was Smith’s 5 of 10 from the free-throw line. The Pacers got as close as four points, 65-61.
“We got very, very stagnant in that third quarter,” coach Larry Drew said. “There is a piece of film that I will be studying very closely which will be our third quarter. Offensively, we weren’t very good. We started isolating. We started taking ill-advised shots. We didn’t execute our offense. We became our own worst enemy.”
The Hawks took a commanding 57-40 lead into halftime. They led by as many as 19 points during a 35-point second quarter highlighted by a 7-for-8 performance from 3-point range. Korver (3), Tolliver (2), Harris and Smith each connected.
Smith scored 16 first-half points and Korver added 11 to lead the impressive effort as the Hawks shot 55 percent (22 of 44). The Pacers shot just 36.6 percent (15 of 41). George was held to just three first-half points as he was again blanketed by Smith.
“This is what we prepare for all year,” Tolliver said. “You have to be ready to come in and bring energy and do whatever you can to help your team win. Tonight, I got a couple of opportunities to shoot and I made them. That’s good.”
Korver went 5 of 8 from 3-point range. He also had five rebounds, an assist and a block off the bench as the Hawks again started with a big lineup to help neutralize the Pacers’ size advantage.
“When Josh is at the (small forward), he’s a load,” Korver said. “They’ve got double teams coming and they have to worry about him. It’s kind of opened me up a little bit. I think the lineup change was a pretty good thing for us.”
As they did in Game 3, the Hawks took control of the game with a dominant second-quarter. They outscored the Pacers 35-19 in the period.
“They took control of the game in the second quarter again and we were fighting uphill battle and expending a whole lot of energy trying to get back in the game,” David West said.
The Pacers opened a seven-point lead, 21-14, in the first quarter. The Hawks answered with a 22-3 run, including 11 straight points between the first and second quarters to take a double-digit lead. Their lead grew to 19 points, 57-38, with a 13-2 run in the second quarter before a Hibbert put-back at the halftime buzzer.
Harris did not start the second half after suffering from dehydration. He received fluids in the locker room and returned with 5:10 remaining in the third quarter.
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