Game Rewind: Pacers 111, Hawks 114

The Pacers gave a red-hot Atlanta Hawks team all they could handle at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. However, when the final whistle sounded, Indiana found itself in an all-too-familiar position.

The Blue & Gold (9-15) dropped another heartbreaker, 114-111, to the Hawks (12-10) in the first game of their six-game homestand.

With 30.5 seconds remaining and the Pacers trailing 112-108, Jeremy Lamb drilled a tough fadeaway three on a second-chance opportunity to close the gap to one. On the Hawks' ensuing possession, Young mishandled the ball, and Chris Duarte scooped it up.

Duarte sprinted down the court for a layup, appearing to draw contact from Kevin Huerter while rising. Unfortunately, the ball kicked off the front of the rim and back into the hands of Young. The star guard then sank two free throws with just 1.2 seconds left, and Malcolm Brogdon's halfcourt heave narrowly bounced off the rim. With the loss, Indiana falls to 1-7 in games decided by three points or fewer.

Five Pacers finished in double figures on the night. Brogdon led the way with 27 on 10-of-20 shooting, six rebounds, and nine assists. Domantas Sabonis tallied a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Myles Turner added 17, nine rebounds, and two blocks. Young led everyone with 33. Indiana trailed 65-57 at halftime before battling back in the third to bring a lead into the fourth.

"The first half set the table for the second half," Rick Carlisle said. "When you go down eight — when you lose the last two-and-a-half minutes of the half by eight points, that's tough."

The Pacers made six of their first 10 shots, but the Hawks started just a tick better, going 7-of-10 from the field and 3-of-4 from long range. After Sabonis' layup gave Indiana its first lead, Young responded with a deep four-point play for Atlanta. The bucket snagged an 18-15 Hawks lead at the 6:55 mark.

A few minutes later, Chris Duarte and Huerter matched each other shot-for-shot on four straight possessions to provide more fireworks. Although, with 4:38 to play, the rookie had the last laugh of the run. The guard scrapped for a steal on Huerter and drilled a trey on the other end to give Indiana a 25-23 lead.

The Blue & Gold then stretched their lead to four before Atlanta mounted a 10-0 spree to take a 33-27 lead and force a timeout. At the buzzer, Lou Williams added another Atlanta three — the team's seventh of the frame — to take a 38-29 lead into the second. The 38 points were a season-high for a Pacers opponent in the first quarter.

The Pacers' bench helped close the deficit to 43-42 over the early minutes of the second. Brad Wanamaker started the frame with a three-point play, and Jeremy Lamb tallied six over the first 4:07 to counter the Hawks' attack. At the 5:45 mark, Oshae Brissett's triple on a second-chance opportunity finally tied the score at 47 apiece.

Later, with the score tied at 53, the Hawks used the three ball once again to create some separation for the break. Huerter and John Collins knocked in treys as part of a 10-2 spree that grabbed a 63-55 Hawks lead with 1:04 to play. After Brogdon hit a pair at the stripe, Collins finished the frame with an alley-oop slam to stretch Atlanta’s lead to eight before the break.

Trailing 67-57, the Pacers knocked in five straight to trim the deficit to five with 9:44 to play. However, the run stopped there after the squad committed back-to-back turnovers. Young and Huerter took advantage of the miscues, stretching the lead back to 10 with 8:41 left.

But Indiana continued to fight. After Young's jumper gave Atlanta a 74-62 lead, Turner capped a 6-0 Pacers spree with an emphatic two-handed slam to force a Hawks timeout with 6:02 left. Despite the stoppage, the Pacers continued to climb. After a jumper by Young, the Blue & Gold rattled off another eight unanswered.

At the 3:27 mark, Turner provided the endcap, flushing the ball home with force off a swift dish from Brogdon. The Pacers pulled ahead 81-78. In all, it was a 19-4 run.

The surge sparked the Pacers through the end of the third quarter. A trey from Brissett — his second — with 52.5 seconds remaining provided the final Pacers points, and they took a slim 88-87 lead into the fourth.

Collins notched five of a 10-4 Hawks run that gave the visitors a 97-92 lead with 9:00 to play. When Indiana trimmed the gap to three, Young tallied five straight to push the lead to eight. The buckets pushed him over 30 points for the fifth consecutive contest.

But the Blue & Gold did not give up. Trailing 105-99, Brogdon and Sabonis tallied consecutive buckets in 27 seconds to cut the gap to two with 3:50 to play.

However, Atlanta quickly stretched its lead to 109-103 behind buckets from Capela and Huerter.

Trailing 111-106 with 57.6 seconds left, Brogdon quickly brought Indiana to within three with a driving layup. On the other end, Collins earned a trip to the charity stripe, sinking one of two with 39.8 tics left to extend Atlanta's lead to 112-108.

Despite the late-game heroics, Indiana could not pull off the comeback. However, the players appear to remain in good spirits, as the fortunes could flip in these close battles at any moment.

Chris Duarte and Jeremy Lamb were the other two Pacers that finished in double figures. They both scored 11.

Indiana committed just 10 turnovers while forcing 13.

The Hawks shot 51.2 percent from the floor — the second-highest percentage from a Pacers opponent at Gainbridge Fieldhouse this year.

"The fact of the matter is we're losing games we're not supposed to. These are games that are going to hurt us at the end of the year. We're not coming with a consistent approach. We have to. It's really as simple as that." -Brogdon's takeaways from the close losses this season

"To win in this league, everybody has to be ready to play. We're professionals. We have to come out and bring it. We have to come out and perform. It's on us." –Sabonis on what needs to change moving forward

Brogdon reached 20 points for the 10th time this season. He has finished in double figures in all 18 appearances this season.

The Pacers continue their six-game homestand on Friday, Dec. 3 at 7:00 PM ET, when they welcome Kyle Lowry and the Miami Heat to Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Find Tickets »