NBA: Hawks survive third quarter stumble, knot series versus Pacers

The Atlanta Hawks could have made this a blowout or conversely, given up a come-from-behind win to their foes, but their fourth quarter poise allowed them to rebound from a mediocre third period, en route to a 102-91 victory that evened their first round playoffs series against the Indiana Pacers at 2-2, Monday (Tuesday, PHL time) at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. The Pacers had picked up impressive wins on their home court, the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indiana, 107-90 and 113-98, but the Hawks were able to hold serve on their own floor, picking up a 90-69 victory in game three, prior to this match. After leading by just a point following the first quarter, 22-21, the Hawks found their rhythm in the second, unleashing a 35-19 period behind 10 markers from Josh Smith, and 15 off the bench from Kyle Korver and Anthony Tolliver. The Hawks made 12-of-20 attempts (60 percent), including 7-of-8 from downtown, while holding their foes to a 7-of-21 (33 percent) clip. Things swung the other way after the break though, as it was the Pacers' turn to show off their defense. The visiting side gave up just three field goal conversions in a 22-12 third period, to get within seven, 69-62, with 12 minutes still to play. In the fourth, a David West jumper cut the Pacers' deficit to just five points, 70-65, at the 9:47 mark of the final canto, but the Hawks got a dunk by Smith and a trey from Tolliver for a 10-point buffer, 75-65. West this time teamed up with Paul George to make it a five-point game anew, 78-73, but the home team kept their opponents at bay with rainbow connections from Smith and Korver, 92-83, 2:33 left in the game. The persistent Pacers made it a five-point difference once more, 92-87, but back-to-back connections by Al Horford and Smith kept Atlanta afloat, 96-87, 1:07 before the final buzzer. With time not on their side, the Pacers were forced to send the Hawks to the foul line to stop the clock. Jeff Teague and Ivan Johnson however combined to go 6-for-6 late, while Indiana failed to connect on three successive triple tries, to forge the final score. Josh Smith had his best game of the series, posting a game-high 29 points, plus 11 rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block. Kyle Korver connected on 5-of-8 triples en route to 19 markers off the bench, while Al Horford chimed in with 18 points, five rebounds and four assists. Indiana drew 21 points, 12 rebounds and four steals from Paul George in the loss, as the All-Star swingman led his fellow Indiana starters, all of whom scored at least 10 points. David West added 15 points, but needed 14 shot attempts, while Roy Hibbert and George Hill chimed in with 14 and 12 markers, respectively. Indiana finished shooting 38.1 percent from the field, far off from the Hawks' mark of 44.6 percent. The home team also connected on 11-of-24 triples, a far superior clip compared to the Pacers' 7-of-23 shooting. - AMD, GMA News