Round 1 of the NBA Playoffs continue on Tuesday and we will see Atlanta Hawks travel to Bankers Life Fieldhouse to take on the Indiana Pacers. The game has a start time of 7:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on TNT. Vegas odds have the Pacers listed as 7 point favorites, while the total sits at 186.5.
Stat Packs: The Atlanta Hawks went just 38-44 during the regular season and were the only team in the playoffs with a losing record, but that still didn’t stop them from shocking the Pacers in game one of this series. Atlanta has now won 7 of their last 9 games overall and despite the game 1 win they are still 15-27 on the road this year. Offensively the Hawks are pretty average as they put up 101.1 ppg (15th) on 45.8% shooting (13th). Paul Milsap does just about everything for this team, as he leads them in scoring (17.9 ppg), rebounding (8.5 rpg) and steals (1.8 spg), while shooting 46.1% from the field, which is second on the team. Overall 5 active players average double figures on the team, with Jeff Teague (16.5 ppg) and Kyler Korver (12.0 ppg) being 2nd and 3rd on the team in scoring respectively. Kyle is the best long range threat for this team and his 185 3-pointers made are the fifth-most in Hawks history. The Defense is also pretty average for this team, as they allow 101.5 ppg (15th) on 46.2% shooting (21st).
The Indiana pacers had a bit of a rough patch down the stretch, but in the end they righted their ship just in time to grab the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Still their struggles down the stretch carried over to Game 1 as they were surprised by the 8th seeded Atlanta Hawks, by a score of 101-93. The Pacers are now 35-7 at home on the year. The Pacers really make their stand at the defensive end of the floor, where they are ranked 2nd in points allowed (92.3 ppg), 1st in defensive FG% (42%) and 4th in 3pt defensive FG% (34.5%). On offense they are well below average as they score just 96.7 ppg (24th) on 44.9% shooting (17th). They do hit their FTs at a 77.9% clip, which is 8th in the league. The offense is led by Paul George, who averages a healthy 21.7 ppg, while David West (14.0 ppg) and Lance Stephenson (13.8 ppg) round out the top 3 scorers on the team. Stephenson leads the team in rebounding (7.2 rpg) and assists (4.6 apg), while Roy Hibbert leads them in blocks (2.2). Hibbert is just 13-of-42 from the floor in five games against Atlanta this season.
Pick: Gonna look at the Under in this one. The Pacers got into a bit of a running game with the Hawks in game one and that is not their style of play and it led to a loss. The Pacers have to play lock down defense in order to win and I see them doing that here. This team allowed just 92.4 ppg overall and 88.4 ppg at home, yet in game one the Hawks put up 101 points on them. Not going to happen here. The proper adjustments will be made. The Pacers have to rely on their defense, cause their offense just isn't there, especially of late averaging just 88.1 ppg in their last 16 games. I expect a slow pace game here with much more defense than was played in game 1.
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