Official Game Thread: Hawks - Pacers GAME 1

[lethalweapon3]

Gentlemen, start your engines!

We started from the middle… now we’re here! Postseason time brings our Atlanta Hawks into Naptown for a first-round tilt with the Indiana Pacers.

It’s a show-and-prove time for many of our Hawk players seeking a nice payday this summer. But it’s also the same deal for their coaches, who know their team plays at their peak when they play more like a unselfish team than a bunch of individuals trying to be heroes. The Hawks’ ability to turn up the pace and design plays that will rack up the assists against one of the NBA’s top-notch defenses will determine how successful they will be in this series.

The Central Division champions are also crawling a bit into the playoffs, dropping five of their final six regular season contests after a successful 4-0 West Coast swing that all but clinched their first division title since 2004. They’ve got the league’s most stifling NBA shooting defense, 1^st in the league in opponent FG% (42.0%) and 3-point FG% (32.7%). They went from giving up less than 90 points per game from December through March to over 101.9 PPG (47.9 opponent FG%; 37.4 3FG%) through seven games in April, not all of them intentional tank jobs. Pacer fans fully expect Frank Vogel’s squad to turn up the defensive effort once again the way they have virtually all season.

They sure had no problem while shorthanded (without David West, George Hill, and Lance Stephenson) in their last matchup with the Hawks, running the Hawks out of the gym with a 22-point lead through three quarters. But then Larry Drew’s reserves came in and turned the tables, whittling the lead down to four before Gerald Green could put the game away. The experience built confidence for Drew in his younger bench players John Jenkins, Mike Scott, and Shelvin Mack, who will get ample time to produce in this series.

Atlanta’s 23.5 assists per game were the most given up by Indiana to an Eastern Conference team. But the 16.3 turnovers the Pacers drew from the Hawks were also the highest against any East team. The Pacers will not only need stops, but they have to turn those turnovers into easy points.

Offensively, the Pacers are one of the league’s worst team shooters (43.6 FG%, 26^th in NBA; 34.7 3FG%, 22^nd in NBA; 74.6 FT%, 19^th in NBA). But they get plenty of second-chance points, thanks to 12.9 offensive rebounds per game (3^rd in NBA). The Hawks have to work as a team to box out and isolate the big boarders (Hibbert, Tyler Hansbrough, West, Ian Mahinmi, George) to keep Indy to one-and-done basketball.

Thankfully for us, we have Josh Smith in our corner. Last season’s first-round series against the Celtics, Smoove averaged a monstrous 13.6 rebounds per game. Plus, he posted the second-highest postseason defensive rebounding percentage (36.6%) last postseason and the fourth highest in NBA postseason history. No one can expect that domination on the glass this time around, given how the Celtics ceded offensive rebounds to get back on defense. But he and Al Horford will have enough to start transition attacks that can force the Pacers to play defense on their heels.

When forced into halfcourt sets, there’s no mystery that “Pick-and-Pop starring Al Horford” will be the order of the day. Rather than draw Hibbert out of the paint, Indiana will try to rotate a defender over, leaving someone open either cutting to the basket or along the perimeter. Horford can throw off the defense with passes from his mid-range spot, and Smoove (or Ivan Johnson) would make for an excellent target in those scenarios.

Indy native Jeff Teague must play heady basketball against fellow Indy native George Hill, who is playing through a mild groin injury but is playing easily the best defense of his career. The Hawks can put their best foot forward with a spry Devin Harris attacking the basket. Having two days off before games 2 and 3 works in Harris’ favor. Atlanta was 15-2 when Harris played 30 or more minutes on the floor this season.

Dahntay Jones was lightly used by the Pacers in the playoffs the last two seasons, but he’ll be deployed early and often to make scoring tough on Paul George (41.9 FG% this season) and the Pacer wings.

Watching the game on TNT can be stomach-churning, especially for a grind-out game when shots aren't falling, so thankfully our familiar friends Bob Rathbun and Dominique Wilkins will be on SportSouth calling the action.

LET’S GO HAWKS!

~lw3

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[Admin]

Now I'm fired up!! You just got this in before the wire :)

[Guest]

LET'S GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!

[gsuteke]

Smith sucks. Long jumpers and he refuses to box out which has led to a half dozen easy points for the Pacers

[gsuteke]

28-26 game at end of first of Josh Smith boxes out on the defensive end.

[DocWilkins]

Stevenson is looking about three steps slow on defense...Korver looks like he hasn't played in a week...oh yeah that's right he hasn't...Pacers living at the line...we are playing at a very slow pace! Wake up guys!

[TheNorthCydeRises]

We're not playing bad. Actually we're playing pretty good offensively. It's just that we can't stop anybody.

If Korver picks up that 3rd foul, it will be interesting to see what lineup Drew goes with. He may go small and put Deshawn at the 3, with Teague and Harris in the backcourt.

[BackForThe2ndTime]

The temperament of this team has to improve or be more consistent. Our 3 best players are too timid and not aggressive enough. Even when Josh is aggressive he's not focused. When Horford and Teague are aggressive they usually play better. Maybe this team just needs a real leader.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

TNT: "Mike Woodson did a great job in Atlanta."

LOL . . . they go to the extreme with things. Either that, or expectations for this franchise is so low, that just mere playoff appearances are "great" for us.

Woody did a "nice" job in Atlanta in his final 3 years there, but the Orlando series caused him to not be re-signed. That's what they should've said.

Two good plays by Josh as soon as he comes back into the game. Only down 7 now.

Ivan gave us some good minutes when he was in the game. If Korver proves to be ineffective this game, I may want to see the Horford - Ivan - Smith lineup . . . provided that Smith doesn't get jumpshot happy.

Horford playing real well now. Hmmm . . . David West hurt.

[BackForThe2ndTime]

ummmmm Where is Jeff Teague? Was just talking him up to my brother yesterday and here I am looking like fool. If Teague plays passive we might as well put Devin out there.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Keep balling Ivan. This dude HAS to be re-signed in the summer. He's playing great on offense and doesn't mind banging his body around one bit.

Wish he would've gone straight up right there vs Hibbert, instead of throwing the ball out to Teague ( who was open though ). Turnovers starting to mount this quarter, but the Hawks are only down 5.

Oh yeah . . . chill on the Josh Smith criticism. Dude is playing well right now. The problem right now is with the Teague vs Hill matchup, in which Hill is KILLING Teague. Make your FTs Teague and cut this down to 3.

[BackForThe2ndTime]

Hawks D. Making everybody look like Michael Jordan since forever.

Edited April 21, 2013 by BackForThe2ndTime

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Damn . . . the 3 by Teague is nullified by George's 3 point play. 58 points given up at halftime. Just have to play better defense. LOL . . I don't know how, with this personnel group, but they have to be better.

Josh may have to play SF in some stretches vs George, to see if we can keep a man in front of him and keep him out of the paint.

10 FTAs for George already. Pacers are 15 - 15 at the line.

Hawks as a team have 7 FTAs, and have only made 3 of them.

We're lucky to only be down by 8.

[HalfHawk]

It's amazing how fast DeShawn can go from being considered an elite defender to getting a look at Paul George's ass each time he tries to guard him.

[gsuteke]

I will criticize Smith all I damn well please. If he's playing well in the 2nd by making good basketball decisions that's a further indictment on him due to his knucklehead play in the first quarter.If he can do it in the second he should have done it in the first. Poor play due to decision making cannot be excused

[gsuteke]

I will concede Smith isn't the biggest issue in the game right now it's stopping the ball on the perimeter. Hawks are fortunate to be down single digits

[DocWilkins]

Hibbert looks like the Dream out there...really looking forward to the playoffs so we will ratchet up our intensity and energy level...

[JackB1]

Josh Smith playing like a moron as usualSent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

[Ruckus]

Chalk it up however you wish but they are the more complete team. We need to run them out of the building to stand a chance. Otherwise it will be 4 and out for us.

[gurpilo]

We just have no answer for George and Hibbert, a defensive wing and a true defensive center are our bigger needs, that's why I want us to sign Brewer or Wright and Dalembert