Indiana Pacers Beat Atlanta Hawks 129-114

Summary of the Indiana Pacers decisive victory over the Atlanta Hawks.

Summary

With less than a game separating the Atlanta Hawks and Indiana Pacers in the standings, fans could expect a battle. It also does not hurt that Hawks head coach Nate McMillan was back in his old arena, and Pacers assistant coach Lloyd Pierce was facing his old team.

Indiana put Atlanta's defense on its heels, thanks to an early barrage from Buddy Hield. After sustaining the best comeback attempts Atlanta could muster, Tyrese Haliburton's second-half outburst sealed the deal for Indiana.

Tyrese Haliburton for threeeeeeeee.👌#NBAAllStar | https://t.co/T6jmxAXvtp pic.twitter.com/1FZq5QldtJ

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) December 28, 2022

Atlanta was without two starters, De'Andre Hunter (ankle) and Clint Capela (calf), and it showed on defense. To make matters worse, John Collins and Onyeka Okongwu fouled out in the fourth quarter.

Before fouling out, Collins scored a season-high 26 points, which included 3-6 made threes. Trae Young also hit 3-6 threes but struggled inside the arc. Young finished the game with 22 points and ten assists. His backcourt partner, Dejounte Murray, was uncharacteristically out of rhythm. Murray finished with a team-worse -20 plus/minus.

Atlanta's lack of depth was on full display tonight and was the root cause of the team's problems. But that can't take away from what Indiana is accomplishing this season. The upstart Pacers are now 18-17 and very much in the postseason picture.

Atlanta falls to 17-17, and the forecast isn't much brighter. Tomorrow night, they host the Brooklyn Nets, who are riding a nine-game winning streak. Stay locked into AllHawks.com for daily coverage of your Atlanta Hawks.

Stats

Hawks Leaders

John Collins - 26 PTS, 10 REB

Trae Young - 22 PTS, 10 AST

Bogdan Bogdanovic - 18 PTS,3 AST

Pacers Leaders

Buddy Hield - 28 PTS, 9 REB

Myles Turner - 23 PTS, 7 AST

Bennedict Mathurin - 18 PTS, 3 REB