Round 1 of the NBA Playoffs continue on Thursday night and we will see Indiana Pacers travel to Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia to take on the Atlanta Hawks. The game has a start time of 7:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on NBA TV. Vegas odds have the Pacers listed as 2.5 point favorites, while the total sits at 186.5.
Stat Packs: 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. The Pacers then went on to lose game 1 of this series, but bounced back strong in game 2 with a 101-85 win. The Pacers have gone just 21-20 SU on the road this year and they are just 4-12 ATS the last 16 meetings in Atlanta. The Pacers really make their stand at the defensive end of the floor, where they ranked 2nd in points allowed during the regular season (92.3 ppg) and 1st in defensive FG% (42%). 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. In the playoffs Paul George leads the team in scoring at 25.5 ppg, while George Hill (13.5 ppg) and Lance Stephenson (13.0 ppg) have also averaged in double figures for the Pacers. C Roy Hibbert is 8-of-31 from inside the paint in the last seven games.
The Atlanta Hawks are the only team in the playoffs that had a losing record during the regular season, but they did come out on fire by taking game one of the series. In game 2, though, it was business as usual, as the Pacers took a 16 points win. Atlanta has is still 7-3 in their last 10 games and they have gone a solid 24-16 at home this year. During the regular season, the Atlanta Hawks were rather ordinary on offense, putting up 101.1 ppg (15th) on 45.8% shooting (13th). In the playoffs Paul Milsap leads the team in scoring at 22 ppg, while Jeff Teague is 2nd at 21 ppg. The Defense is also pretty average for this team, as they allow 101.5 ppg (15th) on 46.2% shooting (21st).
Pick: Going with the Pacers in this game, even though they are 4-12 ATS the last 16 meetings in Atlanta. The pacers are still the more talented team in this series and if they can just cleanup the the crap between their ears and in the locker room then they will be a real threat to Miami in the East. I have to feel that a big win here to get back home court advantage, will be huge for their confidence and I thus I expect a total team effort from them in this one. Look for the Pacers to pull away late.
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NBA Playoff Update #1
Steve Fezzik, from Pregame.com, give his thoughts on how the NBA playoffs have gone so far and what to look for in the future.