Playoff Preview: #1 Indiana Pacers vs #8 Atlanta Hawks
By Peter Owen
This rematch from last year’s first-round could provide an interesting measuring stick.
This series will allow us to see just how much distance these two teams have changed over the past twelve months.
Indiana has continued their progression from draft lottery participant to fringe playoff team to solid playoff contender to championship hopeful with a great progressive building model.
Paul George and Roy Hibbert both made the leap into the top tier of their respective positions and both appeared to have continued this earlier this season. The bench had been bolstered over the summer with the addition of C.J. Watson and Luis Scola.
Then the second half of the season happened. George’s shooting regressed severely and Hibbert entered a slump. David West can no longer carry the team on his own and the bench is still woeful. The team is also one of the worst offensive teams in the league, and once the defense started to slip from it’s necessary level, the losses flooded in.
The Hawks have largely stood still with only an incredible run of injuries keeping them from likely repeating as a sixth seed winning 44 games. Paul Millsap missed a large portion of the season, but it was the loss of Al Horford to a torn pectoral muscle when he was on his way to a potential All-Star appearance that cut the Hawks deep.
To their credit, they regrouped and returned as a stronger unit. They could have surrendered to their bad luck and waited for the draft, but they fought long and hard, scraping together just enough wins to see out the New York Knicks for the final playoff spot.
Team Vs Team
Regardless of the state of the Pacers final few weeks, they are still the top seed and are still expected to return to the Conference Finals. They have Paul George a future MVP candidate and a deserving All-Star. They have Roy Hibbert, whom the verticality rule was seemingly created for. Lance Stephenson provides the hustle and intensity on both ends of the floor as an ideal complementary player.
The Hawks lost Al Horford but have regained Paul Millsap, who will be the key of most of what they do. They’ll also need Jeff Teague to explode like he did last season against Indiana’s poor point guard rotation. Kyle Korver is one of the league’s greatest three-point shooters and must be within arms’ reach at all times, especially when he’s running off screens.
Seasons’ Meetings
Game 1: Pacers 87, Hawks 97 (1/8/14, Phillips Arena)
The Pacers played their fourth game in five nights as Korver’s 17 points and Pero Antic’s 16 helped down Indiana. The Pacers scored just 12 first-quarter points and had 32 at halftime. This sounds familiar.
Game 2: Pacers 89, Hawks 85 (2/4/14, Phillips Arena)
The Pacers won in Atlanta for the first time since 2006, ending a 12-game road losing streak to the Hawks. Indiana went on a 38-16 run over 17 minutes enveloping halftime to send the Pacers clear before the Hawks made the game close down the stretch.
Game 3: Hawks 108, Pacers 98 (2/18/14, Bankers Life Fieldhouse)
Paul George had four threes and 26 points as David West and Lance Stephenson combined for 30 more.
Game 4: Hawks 107, Pacers 88 (4/6/14, Bankers Life Fieldhouse)
I knew Game 1 sounded familiar. The fourth meeting came at the nadir of the Pacers recent slump. An absolute blowout loss that saw the Hawks pull their starters after the first quarter and play no minutes in the second half. The game was never close.
Game Schedule
Game 1: Saturday, April 19th | at Indiana | 7pm ET | ESPN |
Game 2: Tuesday, April 22nd | at Indiana | 7pm | TNT |
Game 3: Thursday, April 24th | at Atlanta | 7pm | NBA TV |
Game 4: Saturday, April 26th | at Atlanta | 2pm | TNT |
*Game 5: Monday, April 28th | at Indiana | TBD |
*Game 6: Thursday, May 1st | at Atlanta | TBD |
*Game 7: Saturday, May 3rd | at Indiana |TBD |
* – if necessary.