Is seven a lucky number? As the Atlanta Hawks prepare for the host Indiana Pacers (7:00 PM Eastern, NO LOCAL TV, FoxSports Indiana) in the quest for their first in-season seven-game winning string since November 2009 (that one punctuated by a last-second Josh Smith putback – at the rim, no less! – to edge the Rockets), the brake-pumpers are out in force. Beyond the fact that the Hawks have played most of their games at organ-friendly Philips Arena, are pretty healthy overall, and have had just five contests so far against Western Conference opponents (just one against a Top-8 team), their strength-of-schedule (average winning percentage of games played – 42.5%) is the lowest in the NBA.

Still, perhaps uncharacteristically, this edition of the Hawks has been aptly knocking down whatever the schedule puts in front of them. None of the circumstances that have befallen Atlanta’s opponents, particularly injuries, are the Hawks’ fault. Maybe least of all the situation with the Pacers, the reigning Eastern Conference regular-season champions that have found themselves lacking in talent and, even with some veterans returning, bereft of offensive firepower (97.5 points per 100 possessions, 27^th in NBA).

Of course they’re missing Paul George (leg) and, to a lesser extent, Lance Stephenson (free agent departure). They certainly had no reason to believe they’d be missing Rasual Butler, a training camp signee by the Wizards who is filling up the buckets (17.1 PPG in his last six games, 54.5 3FG% on the season) right now. George Hill (knee, quad) has been absent all season, while David West (ankle), Roy Hibbert (knee, ankle), Rodney Stuckey (foot, wrist), C.J. Watson (foot), have all missed time. And now they’ll make do without backup center Ian Mahinmi, who tore his plantar fascia and will miss at least another month. 88 player games have been missed, and counting.

Running headfirst into Indy (7-13, losers of their last four) is a Hawks team with an NBA-best defensive rating (92.0 points per-100) during the course of their winning streak. Atlanta held their last two opponents, Brooklyn and Denver, to below 40 eFG%. Indiana will try and keep up with Chris Copeland, the forward who tried in vain to keep the Pacers competitive with 21 points (6-for-11 on threes) in Atlanta on November 1, a 102-92 Hawks victory. Led by Jeff Teague’s 25 points, Atlanta kept Indy at bay despite shooting just 7-for-20 (35 3FG%) in the game.

Hibbert and the Pacers have been hanging in games by rebounding like crazy (52.8 rebound percentage, 2^nd in NBA), going 4-2 on the season so far when they register at least 50 boards, but 0-10 when the rebounding percentage falls below 53 percent. Last Friday night, they put a scare into DeMarcus Cousins-less Sacramento on the road, but still couldn’t out-board the NBA’s top rebounding team, done in by an offensive putback by Carl Landry in the final second of overtime. The task gets much tougher for Roy Hibbert and company without Mahinmi around. Pacers head coach Frank Vogel will depend on extended minutes for Lavoy Allen (team-leading 12.7 rebounds per-36), but he’ll also need Luis Scola and the wings to help out as well to limit Atlanta’s chances, and maximizing their own (15.9 second-chance PPG, 2nd in NBA).

The game will mark the return of Hawks players with semi-star turns from the 2014 Playoff series to Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Indy native Teague (19.3 PPG in the series) made Evan Turner look exactly like a guy who couldn’t defend to save his life, while Mike Scott (5-for-6 on threes in Game 5) giddyup’d his way to 17 points in helping turn the series back in Atlanta’s favor for the final time. Vogel has just about given up on ex-Hawk Donald Sloan (DNP-CD last two games) as a starter, and has been turning to score-first guard Stuckey instead.

Either way, the Hawks should be capable of passing circles around the Pacers, who had no player with more than 3 assists against Sacramento. West, Stuckey, Copeland, and the C.J.’s will have their work cut out trying to slow down and keep up with the East’s third-best offense (106.8 points per 100 possessions) and top shooting team (47.3 FG%).

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3