Haliburton seals the game, guides Pacers to bounce-back win over Hawks: Running Thoughts
The Atlanta Hawks got to within six points, then Tyrese Haliburton re-entered and scored 12 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter of double-digit win.
Here are my running thoughts from the Pacers’ 129-114 win over the Atlanta Hawks Tuesday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The Pacers didn’t land back in town until 2 a.m. after a bad loss in New Orleans.
I attended the Fort Wayne Mad Ants game earlier in the day at The Fieldhouse. Despite having two games in less than 24 hours, sitting courtside to support the team was Tyrese Haliburton, Terry Taylor and James Johnson.
It’s the first of three meetings against the Hawks this season, including two in Indy over the next nine games.
And it’s the Pacers’ first game on a Tuesday this season. (And when they host the Cavs on Thursday, it’ll be their first game on that day too.)
The Hawks were without center Clint Capela, De'Andre Hunter and Jarrett Culver.
There was a bigger pre-game crowd than usual in the tunnels for both teams, filled with kids seeking autographs. They’re on winter break and tipoff was a half hour later.
Rev It Up: 1st Lt Riley Compton, a Carmel High School graduate that was on the USA bobsled national team.
Before the tip, Hawks forward John Collins ran over to the Pacers bench to give Lloyd Pierce, the former Hawks head coach, a big hug.
Myles Turner made a layup on their first possession, then the Pacers missed their next eight shots.
4:10: Buddy Hield is feeling it early. He ripped off eight straight points in just two minutes. He confidently got into his shot each time. And had 10 of their first 19 points.
With the Hawks short on bigs, Justin Holiday is playing the 5 — just like he did, at times, in Indy — and defending Jalen Smith. The ultimate team guy.
(Justin Holiday, who should have a consistent role on a contending team, then wasn’t played in the final three quarters.)
Indiana shot 50%, scored 12 fast break points and led by three, 30-27, after 1.
6:39: Full-court pressure applied by Chris Duarte forces a turnover, as the inbounder stepped in.
Oshae Brissett has been productive offensively off the bench, making all four shots and a free throw for 10 points.
Head coach Rick Carlisle postgame: “He’s really picked things up in the last few weeks.”
6:26: Bogdan Bogdanovic T’d up for yelling at the official after not getting an and-1.
Pacers’ bench has been a big contributor. They’ve accounted for 35 of their first 57 points.
Brissett on the second unit: “I feel like we came with a different mindset. It’s been a while since we played like that and we can definitely feel the difference.”
More Carlisle: “Second unit was tremendous in the first half and helped build up a bit of a lead, which was great. Simplicity, played with pace, spacing the right way, finding the right people at the right time, attacking the rim.”
A tough final minute by the Pacers. They looked confused defensively on the final few possessions, mixing matchups and such. Then Trae Young was rewarded with foul shots on a flop.
Still… the Pacers got up 64-54 at half with 15 points from Hield and over half their points (35) from the bench.