Josh Smith continues to impress as Atlanta Hawks edge Indiana Pacers 101-96 - NBA Recap
At the Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Atlanta Hawks rolled to a 3 game winning streak after beating Indiana Pacers, 101-96 on Tuesday.
Hawks were marshalled by Josh Smith who tallied game-high 27 and 9 rebounds. Atlanta coach Larry Drew complemented his hot run of form;
"Josh has been on a roll as of late, we’ve been going through him offensively and defensively. He's been an anchor for us. Tonight I felt he played another phenomenal ball game. He was just solid."
Jannero Pargo collected 16 coming off the bench and Marvin Williams along with Zaza Pachulia chipped in with 12 apiece. With Smith failing to make a shot in the last 16.5 minutes, Pargo and Pachulia combined for 21 of the last
32 points for Hawks.
Pacers had 5 players in the double figure score, led by David West who had 24 points. Danny Granger chipped in with 19 points and 8 boards. George Hill had 15 while Roy Hibbert collected 13 points and 8 boards. Paul George netted
11 points as Pacers skidded down to a 2 game losing streak.
The game went up and down before Hawks finally managed to nail it in the last moments of final quarter.
Indiana were leading by 7-2 before the Hawks raced off to a huge 22-13 lead after pulling off an 20-6 run. They stretched their lead to 29-22 by the end of 1st frame. The Hawks then reeled off a 11-2 run, in the opening
moments of the second stanza and claimed a 40-24 advantage.
Pacers tried to shave off the deficit with a 10-3 run and reduced the gap to 43-34 but with just about two minutes left in the break, the Hawks were leading by 58-48. The Pacers however capped the first half with six consecutive
points to make it 54-58.
The 3rd quarter was the lowest shooting frame of the game. Pacers managed to tie the scores at 67 each midway through the frame but Hawks capped off the segment with a 10-4 run. With Atlanta in the lead 76-71, game entered
into its conclusive quarter.
Pacers managed to get as close as 82-81inside the first four minutes, but Hawks blasted their way out of the stalemate with a 13-6 run to gain a 95-87 advantage.
Indiana inched back with a 9-2 run to make it a one point game, 97-96, with only 23.1 clicks to expire, but the Hawks chipped in with a flurry of unanswered freebies, and concluded the game with a 101-96 advantage.
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