Hoopinion: Hawks 94 Pacers 84

[Hawksquawk]

Boxscore

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
IND	87.9	0.956	45.7	12.3	18.8	14.8
ATL	87.9	1.07	46.6	14.9	33.3	13.7

Score one for just showing up and beating a team. It must be easier to do at home than on the road. The first quarter effort was shocking with both Mike Bibby and Josh Smith* spending much of the quarter walking from one end of the floor to the other. The Pacers played hard, were rewarded with open shots, and scored 31 first quarter points on 20 offensive possessions.

*Smith appeared interested (in basketball, not in complaining about calls referees got right) for about three minutes of the fourth quarter. He loafed through the rest of the game and finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds. He's ridiculously talented.

Jamal Crawford, Zaza Pachulia, and Jeff Teague* provided some energetic production early in the second quarter as the Hawks went on a 12-5 run to take a 38-36 lead. Jim O'Brien called a timeout, the energy waned, and the Hawks scored just 10 points in the final 9:29 of the first half.

*It's a shame Teague's good work wasn't rewarded with third quarter minutes in relief of the diffident Bibby. It would be nice if some of those good looks Teague creates for big men, fell to Al Horford and Josh Smith rather than Joe Smith and Pachulia.

Al Horford showed up for the third quarter, scoring 12 of Atlanta's 24 points and grabbing five rebounds, as did Marvin Williams and Mo Evans who were both on the court for much of Indiana's four minute scoring drought that allowed the Hawks to take control of the game for good. Barely. The early insertion of Jason Collins and Mario West appeared to have as much to do with the head coach wishing the game to be over than it actually being over. Either that, or Solomon Jones is less wildly incompetent than a rather unnecessary double agent.

I empathize with Woodson's frustration even as a feel a firmer hand with regard to accountability could have held preventative value. If effort and attitude were the test, some of the Hawks failed outright. None scored perfectly. But Danny Granger shot poorly, the Indiana bench shot worse, and Atlanta got away with a win.

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