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Hawks Hold Off Six-Player Pacers 108-104 Behind Nickeil Alexander-Walker's 34
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- Hawks Hold Off Six-Player Pacers 108-104 Behind Nickeil Alexander-Walker's 34
(Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images)
Onyeka Okongwu hit a 12-foot driving hook with 10.2 seconds left Monday night, and the Atlanta Hawks held off a six-player Indiana Pacers team for a 108-104 win at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored a season-high 34 points on 12-of-25 shooting. He went 9-of-15 from 3-point range, matching his career high for made 3-pointers.
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Atlanta is back to .500 at 4-4 after losing three of its previous four games. Indiana has lost five straight and sits at 2-6.
Pacers Played Six With 11 Unavailable
Indiana started the night with 11 players unavailable. Tyrese Haliburton (left hamstring strain), T.J. McConnell (right hamstring strain), Johnny Furphy (right ACL surgery), Ben Sheppard (left meniscus surgery), and Larry Nance Jr. (illness) were inactive.
Andrew Nembhard (cervical injury management), Aaron Nesmith (left hamstring injury management), and Ivica Zubac (left ankle sprain) did not dress. Pascal Siakam sat out for rest on the second night of a back-to-back. Kelly Oubre Jr. and Obi Toppin were listed as did not play, coach's decision, and ESPN reported Oubre was a late scratch with a bruised knee.
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Jay Huff, Quenton Jackson, Jarace Walker, Braden Smith, and Jalen Slawson started. Kobe Brown was the only reserve. Smith, Slawson, and Brown are on two-way contracts.
All six scored in double figures. Huff had 22 points and eight rebounds, Jackson scored 20, and Smith had 19 points and 10 assists in his first NBA start. Brown added 16. Walker scored 15 in 44 minutes, and Slawson finished with 12. Smith played 42 minutes, checked out with 58.7 seconds left, and did not return.
Monday was the first time since Nov. 20, 2004, that the Pacers used only six players. According to ESPN Research, no team had used six or fewer players this early in a season since the 1948 Lakers.
Atlanta was short-handed too. Jalen Johnson (left ankle sprain), Jock Landale (left hip strain), Mouhamed Gueye (left foot fracture), and Henri Veesaar (torn right ACL) were out. Kingston Flemings served a one-game suspension for elbowing New Orleans guard Bryce McGowens in the head during Saturday's 121-99 loss to the Pelicans .
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Hawks coach Quin Snyder said Atlanta did not get rattled when Indiana made its late run.
"It's a really good win," Snyder said. "We knew we were going to be in a dogfight-type game. [Jay] Huff gives [them] size and rim protection. We weren't very good at the rim, and they made plays. 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. And we were never able to do that."
"But at this point in the year, the way every team is kind of growing, hopefully the Pacers can get healthy," Snyder continued. "That's really hard. We had a little bit of that tonight with not having Jalen and Jock and Kingston. But I thought our guys competed. We missed a lot of layups. And some of that was we were playing against a team that had size. And so again, to get out of here with a win, all wins are good. These are the type of games, close games, that help you get better."
Hawks Tied a Franchise Record Before Halftime
The teams tied four times and traded the lead four times, all in the first quarter. Luguentz Dort's layup with 5:24 left in the period put Atlanta ahead for good at 22-20.
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Atlanta made seven of its 10 3-point attempts in the first quarter and led 37-29 after one. CJ McCollum's 3-pointer with 3:44 left in the second quarter made it 62-49.
By halftime, the Hawks had 15 3-pointers, tying the franchise record for any half. Alexander-Walker had 19 points at the break, and Atlanta led 68-56.
Dyson Daniels' turnaround jumper 2:12 into the third quarter put Atlanta up 73-58, its biggest lead of the night. Smith scored nine of Indiana's 23 points in the period, and the Pacers took the quarter by four to go into the fourth down 87-79.
Indiana kept coming. Jackson finished a fast-break layup through a Dort foul with 7:36 left, and his free throw made it 93-90.
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Atlanta answered with eight straight points. Okongwu scored on a goaltending call, Dort hit a 3-pointer at 6:29, and Alexander-Walker pulled up for another 29 seconds later after a Daniels steal.
Alexander-Walker's ninth 3-pointer took two tries. He missed from the right wing with 4:38 left, McCollum got the rebound, and by the time the ball came back out, Alexander-Walker had drifted to the top of the key. The make, at 4:34, put Atlanta up 104-93.
Indiana scored the next nine points. Kobe Brown, Jackson, and Huff made two free throws apiece, and Smith hit a 3-pointer with 3:26 left. McCollum stopped the run with two free throws at 2:10, after the Pacers lost a coach's challenge on the foul call against Brown.
Jackson picked off an Alexander-Walker pass and dunked at 1:23 to make it 106-104. He then blocked Alexander-Walker's 3-point try, and with 43.1 seconds remaining he missed a 3-pointer that would have given Indiana the lead.
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With 12.9 seconds left, Huff blocked Alexander-Walker's driving layup, and Atlanta kept the ball and called timeout. The Hawks had not made a field goal since Alexander-Walker's 3-pointer at 4:34.
Okongwu's driving hook off a McCollum pass made it 108-104, and Huff missed a 3-pointer on Indiana's last possession. Against Cleveland on Oct. 29 , his late putback decided a 114-111 win.
Hawks Made 23 3-Pointers, Pacers Won the Paint
Atlanta shot 23-of-51 from 3-point range and 17-of-52 on 2-point attempts. Indiana went 8-of-34 from deep.
The Pacers outscored the Hawks 54-26 in the paint and went 20-of-23 at the free-throw line. Atlanta was 5-of-8.
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McCollum missed 13 of his 17 shots. He also had 13 points, 12 assists, and nine rebounds, one board shy of a triple-double. Okongwu's hook gave him 13 points to go with 10 rebounds.
Dort and Corey Kispert each scored 14. Dort made four of his six 3-point tries, and Kispert, coming off the bench, hit three 3-pointers in the first 2:16 of the second quarter. Aaron Wiggins went 3-of-12 for seven points, and Dorian Finney-Smith did not get off the bench.
Alexander-Walker said in an on-court interview with Madison Hock that the next step was to watch the film, learn from the Hawks' mistakes, and apply it.
"A win you'll take at any cost, especially in this league, so we'll definitely take the win, and we did enough to win," Alexander-Walker said. "I think the mindset is just how can we be better, push ourselves to exceed limits and expectations and reach new heights."
Atlanta visits the Washington Wizards and former Hawks guard Trae Young at 7 p.m. ET Wednesday at Capital One Arena. The teams meet again Friday in Atlanta.
