Indianapolis, IN – Gerald Green led six Indiana players in double-figures with 19 points as the depleted Pacers used a balanced attack to down the Atlanta Hawks, 100-94, on Monday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Roy Hibbert scored 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and Orlando Johnson donated 15 points for the Pacers, who were without David West (back), Lance Stephenson (right hip flexor) and George Hill (strained left groin).
Jeff Pendergraph and Paul George netted 14 and 13 points, respectively, for Indiana, which bounced back from a loss at Chicago on Saturday to pick up its fourth win in its last five games.
Josh Smith had 20 points, four assists and four steals and Al Horford scored 13 points to go along with eight boards for the Hawks, who trailed by as many as 28 in the second half and were searching for a third straight road victory after coming in winners in five of their last seven games overall.
"The disappointing thing was that we just lost our composure. We didn't handle it the right way," Hawks head coach Larry Drew said.
Indiana turned up the pressure to start the second half, as the team expanded its 15-point edge to 28 points during a 21-8 swing to make it 79-51 with 5:00 to play in the third.
The lead stayed above 20 points or more as the period came to an end before the hosts took a comfortable 85-63 advantage into the fourth.
That's when things got interesting, as Atlanta wasn't ready to go down quietly. The Pacers' suddenly commanding lead vanished, as the Hawks kicked off the final quarter with a 13-2 spurt to creep back within 87-76 with 7:27 to play.
A couple minutes later, D.J. Augustin hit a huge triple and Green had a steal- and-slam to keep the lead to 13 points with three minutes left. Then, once again, Atlanta fought back, this time with nine straight points in just over 1 1/2 minutes to close the margin to 94-90 with 1:07 to play.
Augustin, however, came up huge with a steal on a fast break which led to a clutch Green 3-pointer with 34 ticks remaining to make it 97-90 to secure the win.
"It's not a bad shot if it goes in," Indiana head coach Frank Vogel said of the rushed clinching shot by Green.
The depleted Pacers lineup came together in the second quarter, as the team turned an early 40-35 edge into a 58-38 advantage with just 1:17 left before the break. Johnson capped off the 18-3 spurt with the final five points.
Indiana went into halftime up 58-43, though, as Atlanta scored the final five points of the first half. Johnson contributed 15 points and Pendergraph chipped in 12 after two quarters.
The contest was tied 26-26 after one quarter of play with neither team expanding the margin past five points.
Game Notes
The season's series is tied, 2-2, while the home team has won all four meetings ... Atlanta is 17-19 on the road this season, while Indiana is 29-8 at home ... The Pacers have taken five of the last six in the series as the hosts ... With a victory and a Philadelphia loss to Utah, Atlanta could have clinched a playoff berth ... Tyler Hansbrough added a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards for Indiana.
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