Hawks-Pacers Preview

By MATT BEARDMORE
Posted Jan 10 2012 1:08PM

The Indiana Pacers have been one of the league's better defensive teams this season, but that wasn't the case their last time out.

Facing the hot-shooting Atlanta Hawks could make it difficult for the Pacers to get back on track at their end of the court.

Indiana goes for its first 4-0 start at home in nine seasons when they face a Hawks team trying to win its season-best fourth in a row Wednesday night.

The Pacers (6-3) are among the league leaders in scoring defense at 90.0 points per game and field-goal percentage defense at 42.0, but they lost 96-86 at Philadelphia on Monday as the 76ers made half of their 76 shots.

Indiana defeated its previous two opponents - Boston and Charlotte - by holding them to averages of 75.5 points and 35.5 percent from the floor.

"We didn't defend at a high enough level," coach Frank Vogel said after Monday's defeat.

That hasn't been a problem for the Pacers at home, where they are giving up 82.3 points and holding opponents to 35.7 percent shooting.

Indiana last opened 4-0 on its home court in 2002-03 when it started 7-0.

Moving closer to tying that mark could be a challenge for the Pacers as they begin their three-game season series against the Hawks (7-3). Atlanta has hit 55.3 percent from the field in its last two games while going 18 for 33 from 3-point range.

Josh Smith has made 65.3 percent of his shots while averaging 24.7 points during the team's winning streak. He scored a season-high 26 and shot 10 of 14 in a 106-101 victory at New Jersey on Monday.

"I'm just starting off aggressively and setting the tempo for me and my teammates," Smith said. "I'm getting into the flow of the offense more and getting better shots."

Smith was sidelined with a sprained right knee the last time these teams played, a 114-102 Pacers home victory April 8 that ended Atlanta's nine-game win streak in the series.

The Hawks had won three in a row at Indiana.

Danny Granger, who led the Pacers with 28 points the last time Atlanta was in town, is scoring 26.2 per game and shooting 53.2 percent in his last six home contests against the Hawks.

The veteran forward, however, is questionable for Wednesday after missing Monday's game with food poisoning.

Indiana could also be without forward Tyler Hansbrough after he left the game against the Nets with a scratched eye.

"We are a pro team, so if one person doesn't show up, the rest of us need to step up and play," said center Roy Hibbert, who has recorded a team-high 39 points with 16 rebounds in the last two games.

The Hawks will likely be without forward Marvin Williams for a second straight game after he sprained his left ankle in a 109-94 victory over Chicago on Saturday.

Without Williams, Vladimir Radmanovic made his first start of the season Monday, scoring 14 points and going 4 of 11 from 3-point range. He is 11 for 20 from beyond the arc during the Hawks' winning streak.

Atlanta's starting backcourt of Joe Johnson and Jeff Teague is averaging a combined 30.7 points, 50.6 percent shooting and 12.7 assists during the winning streak.

Teague, an Indianapolis native, scored 21 points - his most in 72 career road games - on April 8.

Granger leads Pacers past Hawks

Posted Jan 11 2012 11:08PM

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Danny Granger broke out of a shooting slump - at the Atlanta Hawks' expense.

Shooting 3 of 5 from 3-point range and 9 of 16 overall, Granger scored 24 points in the Indiana Pacers' 96-84 victory over the Hawks on Wednesday night.

"I never shoot good at the beginning of the season," Granger said. "Nothing different. I knew it would come around at one point. Everybody else was worried about it more than I was."

Roy Hibbert added 12 points and 11 rebounds, and David West and Lance Stephenson also had 12 points each to help the Pacers improve to 7-3 - matching their best start since 2005-06. Indiana also is 4-0 at home for the first time since winning its first seven home games in 2002-03.

"When you play the right way, good things happen," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said about Granger, who missed the Pacers' last game because of food poisoning. "Even though his ankle was hurt, being out last few days, he maybe got his legs back under him a little bit. When you play the right way, you're going to be effective. He didn't force anything."

Josh Smith led Atlanta with 16 points, Joe Johnson had 15, Zaza Pachulia 11 and Willie Green 10. The Hawks dropped to 7-4.

"We did everything wrong," Hawks coach Larry Drew said. "We turned the ball over, we missed layups, we missed blockout assignments. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong in the third quarter. It seemed like we just hit a wall after that."

Granger and Hibbert scored all the points as the Pacers, up 53-50 at the half, put together a 16-2 run in the third quarter to make it 71-54 with 5:07 to go in the period.

After the Hawks scored five straight, the Pacers finished the quarter with an 8-0 run, capped by Jeff Foster' 3-pointer that made it 79-59.

Indiana was 10 of 19 from the field in the quarter, while Atlanta was 4 of 20.

"We wanted to turn it up a notch," Granger said. "We know they're a really good team, but they're not very deep. They don't play a lot of players. We wanted to get out in transition as much as we can. When we did that, I think it put some pressure on them."

Indiana pushed the lead to 24 points midway through the final quarter.

The Hawks' Jason Collins was ejected with 3.5 seconds remaining for a flagrant foul on Lou Amundson.

NOTES: Indiana won for just the second time in its last 11 games against the Hawks. ... Hawks guard Tracy McGrady was ruled out before the game because of back spasms. ... Hawks forward Al Horford strained his left shoulder battling under his own basket and was sidelined with 6:14 remaining in the first quarter.

Notebook: Pacers 96, Hawks 84

By Conrad Brunner, for NBA.com
Posted Wednesday January 11, 2012 10:48PM

THE FACTS: For the Pacers to take the anticipated step toward contention for a top-four seed in the East, they need to show they can beat the teams in their peer group. For the second time in a week, they did just that, rolling to a 24-point lead before settling for a 96-84 rout of Atlanta Wednesday in Bankers Life Fieldhouse. This was the third game in a week for the Pacers against a team they expect to compete with for playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference. They won in Boston 87-74 on Jan. 6 but lost in Philadephia, 96-86 Monday. Returning to the lineup after missing a game with food poisoning, Danny Granger emerged from an early shooting funk to score a game-high 24, including 12 in a 22-4 run bridging the second and third periods that broke it open.

QUOTABLE: "It's a shortened season and we know the bunch that we're in the mix with right now. Everybody is sort of putting Miami and Chicago as the cream of the crop. From three to eight or nine or 10 it's sort of up for grabs. We feel we're at the top of that bunch and Atlanta certainly is playing well enough to be considered that way, as well."
-- Indiana coach Frank Vogel

THE STAT: Jeff Foster made a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. It was just the seventh of his career (in 54 attempts), increasing his percentage to .130. It was his first 3-pointer since Dec. 13, 2008.

TURNING POINT: The Hawks had their best surge of the game in the second quarter, taking a 50-49 lead on Jeff Teague's drive. But the Pacers scored the final four points of the half to re-take the lead, and then came out of the locker room with an 18-4 run that pushed it to 71-54. Atlanta shot just 2-for-15 in the 22-4 run. The Hawks cut it to 71-59 but the Pacers then closed the third period on a 9-0 run capped by Foster's rare 3-pointer to make it a 21-point game heading into the fourth.

QUOTABLE II: "Ball movement was good to get the open person and I feel like I am getting my stroke back. As we all know I am kind of a slow starter every year. And this year there was very little preseason so my preseason is now and I am getting better."
-- Danny Granger

HOT: Granger entered the game averaging 14.9 points and shooting .307 for the season -- last in the league. He had hit just 25 percent in his previous five games, averaging 12.0 points. But he put that behind him by hitting 9-for-16 overall, including 3-for-5 from the 3-point line.

NOT: Atlanta didn't get much from the perimeter players. Teague shot just 2-for-10, Vladimir Radmanovic was 1-for-7 and Joe Johnson was 5-for-12. The Hawks shot .375 for the game, the seventh opponent in 10 games the Pacers have held to less than 40 percent.

QUOTABLE III: "Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong in the third quarter. We stayed in it in the second quarter, but we just came out in the third quarter and could not execute. We missed too many shots and made some mistakes and that compounded things. The Pacers came out tonight and established things."
-- Hawks coach Larry Drew

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Paul George continues to tease owners with the occasional flash but remains inconsistent. Indiana's gifted second-year forward had just five points with six rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal in 21 minutes.

GOOD MOVE: Vogel wasn't sure Granger would be able to play the full game, given his recent bout with food poisoning, but the coach quickly could tell his star player was just fine and he wound up playing 27 minutes, sitting the entire fourth quarter as the Pacers blew it open.

BAD MOVE: Drew couldn't find a button to push in the third quarter. After his team closed the first half strong, it came out of the locker room flat, making just two buckets in the first eight minutes of the period as things got out of hand.

IN THE ARENA: Colts linebacker Gary Brackett was a front-row spectator. ... Former Indy Car driver and current Colts scouting assistant A.J. Foyt IV and wife Casey Irsay, daughter of the Colts' owner, also had front-row seats.

ROOKIE WATCH: Lance Stephenson isn't technically a rookie but played so little his first season he might as well be. The young guard had a career-high 12 points in 18 minutes off the Indiana bench, hitting 5-for-7 shots while adding five rebounds and three assists.

NOTABLE: Atlanta lost starting center Al Horford midway through the first quarter with a left shoulder strain. He went down hard after having consecutive shots blocked, first by Hibbert, then by George. ... Tyler Hansbrough wore protective eyewear, but not the more flashy goggles and bright yellow headband that captivated his teammates in practice Tuesday. Hansbrough sustained a scratch to his right eye late in the third quarter in Philadelphia Monday. ... Atlanta played its second game in a row without starting forward Marvin Williams, who did not make the trip with a sprained left ankle. Radmanovic replaced him in the starting lineup. ... The Hawks' leading bench scorer, Tracy McGrady, missed the game with back spasms. ... ... Jeff Pendergraph made his first appearance with the Pacers, checking in with 5:23 left in the game. ... The Pacers are 4-0 at home for the first time since 2002. ... Atlanta's nine points in the third quarter were the fewest scored against the Pacers in any period this season. ... Indiana is 6-0 when scoring at least 90 points. ... Roy Hibbert had his sixth double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, adding four assists and a season-high four blocks.

UP NEXT: For the Pacers, Friday @ Toronto, Saturday vs. Boston, Wednesday @ Sacramento. For the Hawks, Thursday vs. Charlotte, Saturday vs. Minnesota, Monday vs. Toronto.

• Hawks: Hinrich, Williams
• Pacers: --

• Hawks: Johnson, Smith
• Pacers: Amundson, Hansbrough

• Lead Changes: 8
• Times Tied: 2

• Arena: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
• Officials: #19 James Capers, #25 Tony Brothers, #34 Kevin Cutler
• Attendance: 10334
• Duration: 2:07