Game Rewind: Pacers 100, Hawks 109

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Game Rewind: IND at ATL

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Indiana and Atlanta came in with the two longest active winning streaks in the Eastern Conference – four and three, respectively – but one would have to end Saturday night. Hot shooting allowed the Hawks to take back the lead late in the first quarter, which they would never surrender again. The Pacers fall for the 11th-straight time in Atlanta, 109-100.

The Pacers took an early lead, going ahead 16-13, but then the Hawks turned it up a notch. They outscored the Pacers 20-8 over the final five minutes of the quarter – shooting 67 percent – to go up seven. A couple of Hawks players had strong starts. Al Horford was perfect in the first, scoring 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting and Lou Williams tallied nine points and eight assists.

Atlanta looked as if they were going to blow out the Pacers with their play in the third quarter. They used two runs; First, a 9-2 run and then an 11-0 spurt, to build their largest lead of the game, 85-65.

But the defense that failed Indiana in the first half gave them a chance in the fourth quarter. First, they used a 9-1 run that went back to the final two minutes of the third to gain some life. It was the Pacers’ bench that did the bulk of the work. Ian Mahinmi stepped up when Roy Hibbert, who failed to score and had one rebound in 21 minutes, had his worst performance of the season. Tyler Hansbrough played physical inside and Lance Stephenson was jumping after rebounds and diving for loose balls.

David West buried just his second three-pointer of the season with a little over six minutes to play to ignite an 8-0 run that brought the Pacers within three, 91-88. They came up empty on their next three possessions, though – miss, miss and turnover – and the Hawks rolled to the finish line in a 109-100 victory.

There are three big concerns for the Pacers following the loss: 1) Their ability to compete with winning teams. They’ve lost their last four games to teams with winning records. 2) Hibbert’s struggles: The Pacers’ big man has to contribute. 3) Lance Stephenson. He has consistently played well lately but took an elbow to the left side of his face and didn’t return.

David West scored a game-high 29 points while shooting 61 percent from the field. Paul George registered 18 points, nine rebounds and eight assists and Ian Mahinmi scored 13 points off the bench.

Lance Stephenson has scored in double figures in the last four games. He had 13 points and five rebounds before his night was cut short because of an elbow to his face.

Lou Williams recorded his first career double-double, finishing with a team-high 21 points and career-high 12 assists. Al Horford was efficient inside with 20 points and Zaza Pachulia, in for the injured Josh Smith, added 17 points and 14 rebounds. The Hawks shot 55 percent.

The Pacers only turned the ball over 10 times, their lowest total in eight games. And they scored 18 points off 17 Atlanta turnovers.

Roy Hibbert’s line: 0 points (0-for-2 shooting), 1 rebounds, 0 assists, 1 block in 21 minutes. Coach Vogel didn’t play him in the fourth quarter. The last time he went scoreless in a game was the final regular season game of the 2010-11 season against Orlando.

The Pacers streak of holding their opponents under 100 points ended after eight straight games, dating back to their loss in Oklahoma City.

“Atlanta is playing at a very high level, and tonight they were just too much for us. That was just not how we play defensively. We made a lot of mistakes and had many, many breakdowns as well. We just didn’t execute what our defensive schemes are all about. It’s tough to beat a good basketball team on the road, especially when you don’t play well. But I give our guys credit. They could have folded the way that game was going, but they fought back and played hard right to the end.” – Frank Vogel

“He just didn’t have it tonight. Tyler (Hansbrough) has been playing well lately, so we went with him more in the second half. Roy has great heart and gives great effort, but he didn’t have it tonight.” – Frank Vogel on Roy Hibbert

“It’s not just playing against Atlanta that’s tough for us. It’s any team with a winning record, especially on the road. We can say all we want that we’re the best defensive team in the league, but until we get some great wins against some good teams, none of that matters. Everybody has to man up and see how they can contribute to making this team better.” – George Hill on the Pacers’ troubles against teams over .500

The Hawks connected on 10-of-20 3-point tries (4-of-5 from Kyle Korver) whereas the Pacers only sunk 5-of-15, two coming from forward David West – his first two of the season.

The Pacers next home game is against the Memphis Grizzlies on New Year's Eve. The game is at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Monday, December 31, with a special holiday tip-off time of 3:00 PM EST. Buy Tickets »

2013-14 Season Tickets » Playoff Priority, Biggest Games, Best Pricing