The Atlanta Hawks will try to end a three-game, home-court losing streak on Tuesday night when they face the Indiana Pacers in the NBA in-season tournament.
This will be the first of four regular-season meetings between Atlanta and Indiana. The Hawks won two of three against the Pacers last season.
The Hawks have lost two straight and three of their last four after Friday’s 126-116 home loss to Philadelphia in the in-season tournament. Indiana is coming off a 128-116 loss to Orlando on Sunday, where the Pacers trailed by 40 in the second half.
The teams are competing in the East Group A Division of the in-season tournament. Indiana is 2-0 and Atlanta is 1-1 in tournament play.
Atlanta has had trouble on the boards against New York’s Mitchell Robinson and Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid the last two games.
“We got to rebound with five guys,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “And sometimes, who you play helps you get better. Robinson is, he’s the most elite of the elite rebounders in the league right now. It just requires even more commitment. And as you said, there’s Robinson, who takes one of our big off, two guys off, everybody’s gotta be there.
“We have to get hits, contact, all those things you have to do to get a rebound. Sometimes it’s a loose-ball rebound, but we have to be more committed to rebounding more consistently.”
Atlanta’s De’Andre Hunter will be back Tuesday following his ejection early in the third quarter Friday after earning two technical fouls for arguing with officials over an incident involving Embiid. Hunter was on the court, and Embiid jumped for a rebound and landed on Hunter’s ankle, with Hunter earning the foul.
Atlanta is led by guards Trae Young, who averages 23.4 points and 11.1 assists per game, and Dejounte Murray, who averages 21.3 points and 5.4 assists. Young is averaging 26.3 points and 9.2 assists in 17 career games against the Pacers.
Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said his team’s latest loss can be blamed on the lack of defense and the Pacers’ inability to answer when Orlando dug in.
“I’ll take the blame,” Carlisle said. “Let’s quit talking about offense. We didn’t guard them. We’ve got to defend better.”
The Pacers are led by Tyrese Haliburton (23.5 points, 11.6 assists) and Myles Turner (17.3 points, 7.2 rebounds). Indiana, which leads the league with an average of 125.7 points per game, has six others averaging double digits in points.
On Nov. 4, Haliburton had 43 points and 12 assists in a win over Charlotte.
“I think when I’m playing well,” he said, “I’m engaged defensively. And when I’m playing well, I think because if I’m scoring, that means teams got to help on me, and that allows me to facilitate, which is what I do probably better than the majority of people in the league. So that’s what I want to do. I want to get my guys involved.”
Tuesday’s game will be the first leg of a home back-to-back for Atlanta, which will host Brooklyn on Wednesday to conclude a four-game homestand.
–Field Level Media
