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4 Takeaways From Hawks’ 108-104 Win Over Pacers
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- 4 Takeaways From Hawks’ 108-104 Win Over Pacers
(Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images)
The Atlanta Hawks came out of Indianapolis on Monday night with a 108-104 win against an Indiana Pacers team that had six players available, two days after their 22-point loss in New Orleans.
While Indiana was missing 11 players, Tyrese Haliburton, Pascal Siakam, and Andrew Nembhard among them, the Hawks were down Jalen Johnson, Jock Landale, Mouhamed Gueye, and Henri Veesaar, and Kingston Flemings was serving a one-game suspension. Atlanta is back at .500 with the win, while Indiana, at 2-6, has dropped five straight.
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1. Atlanta's 3-Point Shooting Swung Back
The Hawks, who went 8-of-46 from 3-point range against the Pelicans on Saturday, made 23 of 51 against Indiana, with 15 of them coming before halftime. After a 7-of-10 start from deep in the first quarter, those 15 first-half 3s matched the franchise record for any half and put Atlanta up 68-56 at the break.
Atlanta was 14-of-52 from the field after halftime, making eight more 3s. During the fourth quarter, as Indiana cut it to two, the Hawks shot 7-of-27.
Hawks coach Quin Snyder said his team didn't get rattled during Indiana's late push.
"When we got a 10-, 12-point lead at one point, that's when hopefully you can have a chance to break the game open," Snyder said. "And we were never able to do that."
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Nickeil Alexander-Walker accounted for nine of the 23, which matched his career high, and finished with a season-high 34 points, while Luguentz Dort and Corey Kispert each made four.
2. The Paint Still Belonged to Indiana
Indiana scored 54 points in the paint to Atlanta's 26, and the Pacers shot 30-of-46 inside the arc while the Hawks went 17-of-52. Jay Huff, who had 22 points, missed just one of his nine 2-point attempts.
With four frontcourt players out in Johnson, Landale, Gueye, and Veesaar, Snyder called protecting the paint the biggest thing for his team right now.
"Huff gives [them] size and rim protection," Snyder said. "We weren't very good at the rim, and they made plays."
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"We missed a lot of layups," Snyder continued. "And some of that was we were playing against a team that had size."
Fouls added to that, as Atlanta was whistled 23 times to Indiana's 14 and the Pacers made 20 of their 23 free throws while the Hawks got to the line eight times.
"We have a stretch where we put them on the foul line, and that makes it really hard," Snyder said, "because we can't get any force offensively — or thrust, I should say."
3. CJ McCollum Kept the Offense Organized
CJ McCollum shot 4-of-17. He also had 12 assists and 9 rebounds, and his last assist set up Okongwu's final basket.
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The Hawks finished with 30 assists on 40 field goals and turned the ball over 16 times.
Snyder said Alexander-Walker hit big shots for Atlanta the whole game.
"I thought CJ did a really good job of finding him late," Snyder said. "And I like the shots that CJ was getting, too. You just have certain nights that the ball won't cooperate."
4. Offensive Rebounds Helped Atlanta Survive
Atlanta grabbed 17 offensive rebounds. Indiana grabbed five.
The Hawks turned those into 22 second-chance points, compared to five for the Pacers. Dyson Daniels had six offensive rebounds and nine total. Onyeka Okongwu, who also had 10 rebounds, scored seven second-chance points.
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Indiana still got within 106-104 when Quenton Jackson stole the ball and dunked with 1:23 left. Okongwu's hook with 10.2 seconds remaining sealed it.
Snyder said every win in this league is a good one, and that people say so because it's true.
"And I thought when they did make the late run, we didn't get rattled," Snyder said. "We didn't do everything right. Pacers made some plays."
In his on-court interview with Madison Hock, Alexander-Walker said Snyder's message in the final huddle was "execution on both ends" and that the Hawks "lost focus" after building their leads.
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"Watch the film, learn from it, learn from our mistakes, communicate, and apply it," Alexander-Walker said. "That's the main thing. Apply it."
The Hawks play at Washington on Wednesday, with tip-off at 7 p.m. ET, and Washington visits State Farm Arena on Friday.
