Pacers hang 150 on the Hawks again to claim sixth straight win

INDIANAPOLIS — The Pacers defeated the Hawks 150-116 on Friday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, marking their second-largest margin of victory this season and dropping 150 points on the Hawks for the second time this season.

The Pacers moved to 20-14, tied for fourth place in the Eastern Conference with the Miami Heat. The Hawks dropped to 14-20 and are now tenth in the East.

Four observations follow.

Pacers shoot over 70% in the first half and have 50 assists.

Following the Pacers’ 157-152 victory over the Hawks in their previous encounter in Atlanta on Nov. 21, both teams were aiming to play much better defense the second time around.

The Pacers were successful, but the Hawks were not.

The Pacers found open cutters near the rim and shooters on the perimeter as easily as they did in Atlanta, and with the ball popping as normal, they generated outstanding first-half offensive stats. They shot 70.5% on 31 of 44 field goals, scoring 36 points in the paint and making 9 of 16 3-pointers. They were also 7 of 9 from the foul line. Despite turning the ball over nine times, they had a dazzling efficiency figure of 1.47 points per possession.

The scoring was virtually exactly balanced, just as it was against the Bucks on Wednesday night. Tyrese Haliburton, the All-Star point guard, attempted just four shots and nailed three of them, scoring seven points but throwing out ten assists. Aaron Nesmith had 12 points on 6 of 8 shooting. Nobody else attempted more than six shots, yet Jalen Smith, Bruce Brown, and Myles Turner each scored 11 points.

“It’s pretty cool to see,” Haliburton added. “We’re taking turns with the ball. We have a diverse group of guys collaborating. It’s contagious when you play basketball like that. Everyone wishes to take part. It’s entertaining for the guys who are out there, as well as the folks who are watching. It’s basically all you can ask for.”

Meanwhile, the Pacers had one of their greatest defensive halves of the season, limiting Atlanta to 19 of 50 shooting, including 5 of 20 from three-point range. The Hawks opened the game with a pair of 3-pointers to make it 6-0, but the Pacers clamped down from there.

“I was very close to calling a timeout, but I just said, ‘Let’s see if we can play through this and adjust,’ and the guys did,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “We were on our way to giving up 900 points or something after that 6-0 start in the first minute, but we got the wheels back on the wagon.” Ty did an excellent job of keeping the ship afloat. Our defense grew stronger. We were lucky to get some bodies on them. They made several mistakes. We were able to profit.”

Brown nailed a buzzer-beater at the buzzer to put the Pacers ahead 78-54, and the onslaught was on. In addition, they outscored the Hawks 39-29 in the third quarter and used only half of their bench in the fourth. They shot 63.8% for the game, and Haliburton had 18 assists in only three quarters, helping the Pacers set a franchise mark with 50 assists. All but one of the 14 players that took the court had at least one assist, and nine had at least two.

“This is the epitome of what fun basketball is,” Turner remarked. “There’s a certain vibe in the ensemble. The men like coming to work. Even on non-working days, the full staff is present. We’ve developed an environment here that makes a night like this possible. To have 50 assists and feel normal about it.”

Myles Turner dominates the Hawks

On Friday night, the Hawks defense was extremely soft in the center, and the Hawks were attempting to send extra men at Haliburton, but Pacers big man Myles Turner took full advantage.

Turner abused the Hawks’ smaller defenders on pick and rolls, and he also popped out for 3s and mid-to-long range 2s to keep them honest. The Hawks had no replies, so Haliburton, in particular, continued to feed him. Turner scored 27 points in 22 minutes and 15 seconds on 10 of 14 shooting, including 2 of 3 from beyond the arc and 5 of 5 from the foul line. He also had five rebounds and three assists, and the comprehensive blowout put an early stop to his evening.

Turner’s play demonstrated how successfully the Pacers have adjusted to opponents’ ball-screen blitzes and double teams against Tyrese Haliburton. Turner was able to locate space around those and take advantage of tag guys, as well as take and hit open mid-range shots that he occasionally passes over.

“It was just me being aggressive,” Turner explained. “I think back to the beginning of my career. Mid-range pick-and-pops were the foundation of my profession. I don’t do it as much as I used to, but I believe I had a change of heart.

I was ready to film it when I decided to pass. ‘Yo, why are you attempting to pass?’ everyone said. You always hit this shot.’ I know I’m competent, but hearing ‘Go score,’ from my teammates, my men, makes it simple.”

Bruce Brown is sharp following his comeback from injury.
Guard Bruce Brown returned from a right knee bone bruise that he said had been bothering him all season and had never fully healed until it became too painful to play through. After missing five games, he scored 15 points on 5 of 7 shooting against the Bucks on Wednesday, and he was even better against the Hawks.

Brown finished with 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting, including a 3-pointer. He also collected three boards and gave out two assists while playing superb defense against Hawks All-Star point guard Trae Young. Young had a dreadful night, scoring 11 points on 4 of 18 shooting, including 1 of 11 from outside the arc.

“He’s gotten himself healthy again,” Carlisle said of Brown. “There was a stretch of six or eight games where he didn’t feel 100 percent.” He wanted to play the entire game. He claimed everything was OK. It came to the point where (chief athletic trainer Josh Corbeil) had to come in and say, ‘We’re going to pull the plug on this until we get you right.’ Part of the equation was getting the correct amount of rest and work, and he missed what, four or five games or whatever it was, and he’s returned fresh and juiced up, and he feels terrific, and it’s very obvious.”

T.J. McConnell does not dunk, but James Johnson does.

The Pacers annihilated the Hawks so thoroughly that the Pacers began bringing in players of their third unit at the opening of the fourth quarter, and even with the Hawks starters playing well into the quarter, they couldn’t make a dent.

Rookie forward Jarace Walker started the fourth quarter, followed by forward Jordan Nwora and rookie guard Ben Sheppard. With 8:14 remaining in the first, the Pacers inserted forward James Johnson, a 36-year-old who joined only three weeks ago after being without a club for the first two months of the season. Sheppard, a rookie, gave Johnson his moment in the spotlight with a baseline drive-and-dish that found Johnson for a slam. He came down and jokingly grasped his knee, but he continued to play.

“Good to see, good to see,” Haliburton commented. “It’s good for him, but it’s also good for his kids to see.” They say a lot of nonsense. It’s great for them to watch him accomplish it.”

T.J. McConnell got a clean breakaway as well, and the Pacers bench hoped he would slam as well, but the 31-year-old passed it up and instead took the simple layup. As he ran back down the court, his teammates gave him the thumbs down.

“It’s not exciting,” Haliburton said flatly. “You don’t like seeing layups.” We want to dunk when we can. T.J. should have dunked on that one. He could have dunked on it. I swear to you, he could have. He’s just getting old.”

McConnell has given the thumbs down to teammates who have passed up dunks, and he did it earlier in the game when Aaron Nesmith scraped on a takeoff and had to settle for a layup. But McConnell claims that’s not hypocrisy because they actually have a size advantage and he’s not attempting a dunk and missing.

“Well, let’s just tell it how it is, like, Aaron’s what, 6-5?” McConnell explained. “I’m 6-1. Now, come on. As I already stated, I am not planning on appearing on Shaqtin’ The Fool. I’m not going to do it.”

McConnell had six assists in the fourth quarter alone and completed the game with 10 points and 10 assists. Walker scored eight points in the quarter, including two 3-pointers, while Jordan Nwora added seven.