Hawks vs Pacers

[willthepureshooter]

I think we need to set the tone early. Let's make the Pacers run, and force them to guard us in transition. I look for Teague, Zaza, and Josh to have a good night. Let's show the media why Hibbert should've watched the Allstar game as a spectator. We win 92-85! Go Hawks!

[benhillboy]

Not that it is of much consequence, but is Joe playing?

[willthepureshooter]

That's a good question Benhillboy, let me see if I can find out.

[Colin]

Not that it is of much consequence, but is Joe playing?

No, he isn't.

[macdaddy]

No Joe, Al, Tmac, Green or Stack (ill). Go Hawks.

[willthepureshooter]

Smh.. we will still win! Josh goes for 37pts 14rebs 5asts 2blks!!!

[lethalweapon3]

The Indiana Pacers would like to engage you in a duel of short jumpers. If you accept this challenge, they can become your Aaron Burr.

Indiana ranks first in the NBA in field goals made (6.5) and #1 in the share of field goals taken (19%) between 3-9 feet, while ranking third overall in field goal percentage (42%) at this range. Roy Hibbert (54%) and David West (42%) are the most notorious short-jumper culprits.

Their opponents are decidedly less successful at this distance (37%, ranking 19th), and are more likely to take shots further out. To that end, Atlanta’s long-two jumpshooters, take note: Pacers’ opponents are also next-to-last in FG% from long jumpers (16-23 feet).

Indy has a subpar overall assist rate -- only "he who's name shall not be mentioned"’s Wizards are lower among Eastern Conference teams in assist rate, percentage-assisted field goals, and assists per game. But the Hawks’ opponents have a higher percentage of field goals assisted at this 3-9 foot range than the foes of any other team, so this is an area of the floor the Pacers’ guards may seek to exploit. Be ready to disrupt those dump-ins!

Despite their short-jumper proficiencies (and being a top-ten three-point shooting team), the Pacers are only 24^th in overall field goal percentage. Why? Oddly, with all these big and tall bodies (Hibbert, West, Danny Granger, Paul George, Tyler Hansbrough, Lou Amundson, Jeff Pendergraph – Jeff Foster is inactive with a bad back) using their length for advantageous jumpers, Indy is woefully ineffective right at the rim. They’re an “smdh”ing dead last in field goal percentage at less than 3 feet from the rim, while next-to-last in field goals made and 28^th in percentage-assisted buckets at the rim.

Josh Smith, Zaza Pachulia, and Ivan Johnson will have their shorthanded work cut out for them once again, but if they can get help defense to force the Pacers out of their comfort zone (or rush their shots while they’re in their comfort zone) there should be ample rebounding opportunities to be had for these guys. Perhaps a few rejections as well, as the Pacers get a higher proportion of their shots blocked than any Eastern Conference team.

No need to get overly aggressive with help defense, as the Hawks don’t need to be thinned by foul trouble and the Pacers are just the latest Hawks opponent to be deadly from the charity stripe. Sixth overall in free throw percentage, every one of their top nine offensive options, with the exception of Hibbert (68%), shoot their freebies at 78 percent or higher. A.J. Price just missed his first three free throws all year last night in Chicago.

Not sure who will be weary-legged for the Pacers after fruitlessly chasing around the Bulls’ bench last night. Darren Collison did a decent job holding back Derrick Rose scoring-wise, and he’ll hope to do the same in a lighter assignment against hometown-returning Jeff Teague. Teague will want to use his speed to his advantage in finding shots, in the same way John Lucas III was effective last night, but he must be a competent distributor as well .

Teague will have to be solid throughout, unlike his 2-for-10 effort during the Hawks’ 12-point loss back at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in mid-January. The game featured one of those anemic third quarters (9 points in that contest) that sink any chance of Atlanta remaining competitive. That game also featured 33 minutes of Joe Johnson (knee), 29 minutes of Willie Green (back), 12 minutes of Jason Collins (elbow) and six ill-fated minutes of Al Horford (pec). None, with the possible exception of Green, are likely to be at the Hawks’ disposal. Tracy McGrady, the victim of a bad back last time around, may be a scratch as well with his knee sprain.

Two players who will be in action this time around are Marvin Williams and Kirk Hinrich. Marvin’s wing defense will be critical as the Pacers try to spread the floor to get the shots they want out of Granger and George. I’m not sure how well Hinrich will match up when the Pacers go tall at shooting guard with George, so we might see some more Jerry Stackhouse (tummy ailment) matching up. He and Green are both game-time decisions. Each participated in the shootaround this afternoon.

Getting the road trip going on the good foot is also a great chance to eventually outpace the Pacers. Winners of seven straight before getting buzzsawed by the Bulls yesterday, tonight’s game will be Indy’s second of nine straight games versus teams with above-.500 records.

Go Hawks!

~lw3

[Admin]

Excellent write-up as usual LW3! You've got me interested in watching this game after feeling bad about it earlier today. Here's hoping that slick Willie plays tonight as we'll need his scoring punch!

[PureGreatness]

I'm iffy on this game. If the Pacers would of won yesterday then I will be a little more confident about tonights game but since they lost I got a feeling we may lose tonight. No Joe is 100% fine with me seeing as we have better ball movement without him IMO but no Stackhouse, No McGrady and No Willie isn't a good thing on the road.

[AHawks89]

Willie Green & Joe are out again.

Just heard that Al is def out for the rest of the reg season.

[Admin]

Willie Green & Joe are out again.

Just heard that Al is def out for the rest of the reg season.

That sucks on all counts! Any word on T-Mac playing tonight?

[PureGreatness]

That sucks on all counts! Any word on T-Mac playing tonight?

I think they might https://twitter.com/#!/ajchawks/status/177165482829422592

[Admin]

I think they might https://twitter.com/...165482829422592

Well that's definitely good news, thanks for the update.

[AHawks89]

Man, it would had been nice to see Horford return back to the line up before playoffs, so he can get some games under his belt. O well, Al will perform perfectly fine in playoffs.

[benhillboy]

Can someone pull up the numbers on games missed for our team this year? It seems like more than the 3 past full seasons combined. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it's impossible for us to win without Willie. Hope I'm proved wrong.

[Admin]

Man Teague is really passing the hell out of the ball tonight, that's 2 incredible passes for easy dunks / layups here in the 1st quarter.

[Admin]

Whew we look REALLY good tonight! Josh looks like he could be having a career scoring night, Teague is ballin and call me crazy but Dampier is looking great as well.

[Admin]

Well we have our unbeaten streaks on the line now. Unbeaten when leading after 3 and unbeaten when Josh scores more than 20. I think we're gonna do it!

In all his years has Josh ever shot the ball this well? He hasn't even touched the rim on most of his shots! I'm sticking by my thought earlier that Josh will get his career scoring high for a game tonight!!

[01d0rd3r]

Great win tonight, back to back wins over really good teams. We need to keep this up.

[benhillboy]

Great road team win. Indy is no juggernaut, but I definitely predicted an L. Big ups to Coach Drew having the guys ready to play undermanned and against tough odds.