“Just Say No to Mopeds, Kid. That’s a Life Lesson from Monta Ellis!”
It’s almost six o’clock on the second weekend of March. You know what that means.
It’s time for Separation Sunday!
Three of the Atlanta Hawks B.C.’s next five games are against teams ranked 7th, 8th, and 10th in the Eastern Conference. This evening’s foe, the Indiana Pacers (6:00 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast, NBATV, Fox Sports Indiana) are merely 1.5 games from the sixth-seeded Hawks. This is no time to keep your enemies closer.
The Pacers just flew into Hartsfield-Jackson from DFW yesterday evening, and, hopefully, their arms are tired. They were granted 29 free throws (sinking 27 of them, 12 more than the Mavericks) along the way to a 112-105 road win. Monta Ellis (7-for-9 2FGs, 7 assists) gained a small measure of revenge against his most recent former team, particularly an oddly dismissive Chandler Parsons.
Coach Frank Vogel deployed a balanced offense on Saturday led by Paul George (3-for-8 shooting both outside and inside, 20 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists) as 7 different Pacers scored in double-digits and Solomon Hill added eight against the free-falling Mavs. And that was without one of their newest contributors.
Even moreso than the Hawks, the Pacers were panned for not making any big splashes at the trade deadline, in their case for not improving the depth at point guard behind George Hill. Similar to Atlanta, Indiana waited instead to pounce on a player coming off the waiver wire. Ty Lawson arrived in the Hoosier State after a disappointing spell in disappointing Houston. Five minutes into his Pacer debut, on Monday versus the Spurs, he sprained a foot.
While Lawson is questionable to appear today, along with rookie reserve point guard Joseph Young, one player they do have in tow is swingman C.J. Miles, who began the season starting at small forward before Vogel scrapped the power forward experiment with Paul George. He was out with a left calf strain and missed nine straight games before returning to action yesterday.
While this is a back-to-back for the Pacers, as is the case for Atlanta, Indiana (35-30) enjoyed four days of rest before their game in Dallas, a win preceded by victories at home over San Antonio (their only home game since February 28) and Washington on the road. After today’s game, this calendar week for the Pacers includes a 5-game homestand that begins with the Celtics, Raptors, and Thunder. Their hosts tonight, the Hawks (37-29), can either have the Pacers cruising, or stumbling, into their homestand.
Rooting for the Hawks is a little like being proud that you’ve got the most cost-effective car on the block, but hope nobody notices it takes a few minutes to get the ignition to start. Such was the case yesterday, when Atlanta returned from their 3-2 road trip by stumbling out of the block against a weary and hobbling but game Memphis Grizzlies team, scoring just 18 first-quarter points.
The Hawks also struggled back on February 5, the last time the Pacers visited the Highlight Factory. Indiana raced to a 29-26 lead on a late first quarter spurt. But the Hawks found their defensive bearings. By the time Paul George (31 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists @ ATL on Feb. 5) came alive early in the fourth quarter, Al Horford’s patented catch-and-shoot jumpers put the Pacers to bed in a 102-96 win for the good guys.
Atlanta would benefit from another strong offensive start by Paul Millsap, who collected 14 of his 24 points in the opening frame of the last win over Indiana, plus a stronger defensive effort from the Atlanta frontline to keep Myles Turner and Lavoy Allen (10 combined O-Rebs @ ATL on Feb. 5) off the glass. Indiana played that game without center Ian Mahinmi, who is back in the starting lineup.
With Mike Budenholzer preferring to give veteran Kirk Hinrich floortime last night, Dennis Schröder sat out all but three minutes against the Grizzlies. Still, Dennis should be rested, recalibrated and ready to go against the Pacers. If Lawson and Young cannot go, there should be ample pressure on drives by Jeff Teague and Schröder to get Hill to risk foul trouble, forcing Vogel to allocate more point-guard defensive duties to Ellis and Rodney Stuckey.
There’s no Selection Committee in the NBA, so the Hawks will have to earn their eventual seed by themselves.
Let’s Go Hawks!
~lw3
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