Atlanta Hawks gassed by Pacers in blowout, 111-92
By John Buhler
The Atlanta Hawks blew a close game in the fourth quarter by ending their blowout loss to the Indiana Pacers on a 23-2 run, falling 111-92 Thursday night.
The Atlanta Hawks had to deal with the loss of its lone All-Star Paul Millsap in its Thursday night game against the Indiana Pacers. Millsap rolled his ankle in the second quarter. While he did try to give it ago at the start of the second half, he was unable to finish the game.
Atlanta battled Indiana tough until about five minutes left in the fourth quarter, when the Hawks let the Pacers close out what was a close game in Bankers Life Fieldhouse on an embarrassing 23-2 run over Atlanta. Indiana would go on to blowout the Atlanta Hawks Thursday night, 111-92, the Hawks’ second straight loss and fourth in five games.
The Atlanta Hawks have now dropped both of their games this season at Bankers Life Fieldhouse after completing a three-game season sweep of the Indiana Pacers in 2014-15. The Pacers win over Atlanta ended their three-game slide that had Indiana fall all the way to eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
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What helped the Pacers win so decisively over the Atlanta Hawks besides the 23-2 run to close out the game was that Indiana absolutely crushed the Hawks on the glass, especially after Paul Millsap’s untimely second quarter exit. Indiana out-rebounded the Hawks, 59-37 in Thursday night’s game in Indianapolis.
Atlanta had four players in double figures scoring. Jeff Teague led the Atlanta Hawks with 20 points on 7-12 shooting in his return to his native Indianapolis. Teague sank both of his three-point attempts and all four of his free throws. He finished the game with five assists, a steal, and a rebound.
Al Horford had 14 points on 6-12 shooting, four rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and a steal. Kent Bazemore nearly had himself a double-double with 11 points, nine rebounds, and a steal.
In Millsap’s absence on the night he earned his third straight trip to the NBA All-Star Game, wing Thabo Sefolosha stepped up off the bench to give the Atlanta Hawks a fighting chance in this game despite being shorthanded without its best player on the court for the entire second half. Sefolosha had 13 points on 4-7 shooting, three rebounds, two steals, an assist, and a block playing both wing positions and even some power forward Thursday night.
Next: Paul Millsap named to third straight All-Star Game
Atlanta will need to figure out how to get back to playing efficiently on the offensive end by the time they travel to South Beach to play the Miami Heat for a 6:00 PM ET tipoff on Sunday evening at American Airlines Arena. For now, Atlanta can use the next two days to rest, as they were clearly gassed by the time they needed to close out the Indiana Pacers Thursday night. Get some rest, boys. Go Hawks!