Pacers survive to tie series 2-2
TYLER SMITH
ISL Correspondent
Heading into Saturday’s Game 4, it was put-up or shut-up time for the Indiana Pacers.
There has been a lot of talking from the Pacer players all season long, which is OK when you’re backing it up with confident play. When things are going poorly, however, doing your talking on the court is all that matters.
In a wild, back-and-forth game, the Pacers survived the Atlanta Hawks by a score of 91-88, evening up their first-round series at two games apiece. Home-court advantage is once again in the hands of the 1-seed.
Things got off to a much better start for the Pacers than in any of the previous games in the series. Crisp ball movement leading to a Paul George 3-pointer to start the game was a good sign right from the tip. The Pacers went on an 8-0 run to start, and eventually took a 29-22 lead after the first quarter.
While the Pacers looked like their pre-February selves in the first, the second quarter looked like the Pacers of late, as they returned to careless basketball, little ball movement and lackluster defense. The Hawks outscored the Pacers 26-13 in the second quarter, giving them a 48-42 halftime lead.
In one of the craziest statistics of all, the Hawks have had a double-digit lead in every game of this series. With that in mind, the Pacers should feel fortunate to be tied and in control.
The winner of the third quarter has won every game of this series, and the Pacers helped themselves out greatly by outscoring the Hawks 24-17 in the third to take a one-point lead heading into the season’s most important fourth quarter. The final quarter saw a little bit of everything: lane violations, Paul Millsap hitting a fallaway 3, David West hitting a clutch 3, George missing two free throws and enough replays to put grandma to sleep.
But in the end, it was the Pacers who came out on top.
A lot of talk has been made about Roy Hibbert and George Hill in this series. Hibbert played a more productive game, but still wasn’t a huge factor in the outcome. Some fans were hoping Hill would be benched after a poor Game 3 performance, but Hill ended up making two of the biggest plays of the game: a corner 3 when the Pacers trailed by five, and a driving bucket to put the Pacers up three. He finished with 15 points, five assists and just one turnover.
The Pacers’ bench play was big as well. Evan Turner had 11 points and four assists early when Lance Stephenson left with foul trouble. Luis Scola and C.J. Watson only combined for 10 points, but hit big shots down the stretch.
When all was said and done, it was George and West putting the Pacers on their backs. Despite each player missing key free throws, the two combined for 42 points on 17-for-31 shooting.
“My number was called, and I had to deliver,” George said. “This team isn’t going away, we just got to to build some consistency.”
By now, one thing should be clear: The Hawks can give the Pacers problems. The blue and gold cannot afford to take them lightly now that they’ve regained home-court advantage. Game 5 is Monday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Follow Tyler Smith on Twitter: www.twitter.com/sports_TYs_20.
