If the postseason was based purely on locker-room levity, the Atlanta Hawks would stroll into today’s meeting with the Indiana Pacers (6:00 PM Eastern, SportSouth and FSN Indiana locally, NBATV nationally) looking like the probable 2-seed. The Pacers would probably be the team that has to play their way in.

After earning league-wide accolades with a 40-12 start before the All-Star Break, Indiana has been downright pedestrian ever since (13-12), especially on the road. After believing they may have righted their ship with a home win against defending champ Miami on March 26, the Pacers have dropped four of their last five, including a double-digit loss in Cleveland (absent Kyrie Irving) last week.

The downturn in Naptown has been accompanied by more finger-pointing than you’d find at a John Travolta dance party. Most Improved Player candidate Lance Stephenson’s composure evaporates way too easily, and he seems overly occupied with getting his triple-double magic back (none since January). David West is whining on the court, while Roy Hibbert is moping off of it in the locker room pressers, the All-Star center with five assists in his last eight games complaining about “some selfish dudes in here”.

When he’s not busy arguing with Stephenson, George Hill has looked hopelessly lost at times, while former MVP contender Paul George’s offensive efficiency has fallen off (39.9 FG% post-All-Star-Break). Becnh production has plummeted, too, as no one seems to know what to make of trade-deadline acquisition Evan Turner on the court. Head Coach Frank Vogel has a lot of loose ends and frayed nerves to knit together as the postseason looms.

While turmoil simmers anew with every loss for Indiana, Atlanta’s devil-may-care attitude has survived one brutal losing string after another for the past two months. Players have been speaking collectively about what’s needed to finish out the regular season, with statements focused more on “we” than “them”.

The Hawks (33-42) have just a one-game lead on the Knicks for the final spot in the East’s Not-So-Elite Eight. They slid back into the advantageous playoff position by dispatching “Kyrie’s Camp” in ATL on Friday night, as the Knicks stumbled at the close of their home game with the Wizards. Now that the Knicks lost today in Miami (this just in: J.R. Smith just attempted another three), they’ll stew until Friday, hoping their backs won’t be against the wall by then.

Atlanta’s win over the Cavs was largely attributable to strong bench scoring, including Mike “The Lost Hodgetwin” Scott rediscovering his shot (12-for-13 FGs, just 5-for-17 in his previous 4 games) and Lou Williams (16 points; sixth double-digit scoring effort in last seven games) joining Jeff Teague as one pair of Hawks guards capable of creating their own offense off the dribble. Atlanta needs continued balance from their bench contributors going forward.

Finally playing with some sense of urgency against Cleveland, Atlanta committed to team rebounding at the defensive end for long stretches, with all ten Hawk contributors notching at least one board. Head Coach Mike Budenholzer will need that same focused commitment again today, as securing rebounds will be a tall order against the Pacers (44.9 team RPG, first among East playoff teams).

A team that has struggled mightily from the field lately (39.7 team FG%, 87.2 PPG in the last 12 games), Indy will be eager to crash the offensive boards and draw trips to the free throw line (78.3 team FT%, tops among East playoff teams) to shore up their offensive output. In Atlanta’s sole victory against Indiana on January 8, the Pacers took a season-low 9 free throw attempts.

While shooting a blistering 58.5% from the field, the 35 assists the Hawks collected were the most since January 31. The quality of offensive execution will be crucial today against George (1.9 SPG, 4^th in NBA; league-leader in defensive win shares) and Stephenson. Indiana has ceded more than 25 assists on just seven occasions this season, but three of those were to Atlanta. In the Hawks two head-to-head losses in February, Atlanta’s 18 and 22 turnovers offset 26 assists in each game. In the Hawks’ January 8 victory, Indiana gave up a season-high 27 assists while Atlanta committed just 10 turnovers.

The whole point of contention as a playoff underdog is demonstrating you can win a game against a decent opponent on the road. Having gone 0-21 in away games this season against teams currently at .500-or-above, Atlanta gets its two final warmup acts this week, at Indiana today and in Brooklyn on Friday night.

Go Hawks!

~lw3