Hawks at Pacers
The Indiana Pacers attempt to escape from the woes that have seen them
lose six of seven games when they host the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday.
The Pacers' only victory during the stretch has come against the lowly
Phoenix Suns and they have dropped to eighth place in the Eastern
Conference.
Indiana's issues continued with a 91-89 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday — the club's fewest points since tallying 84 in a loss to Memphis on Dec. 19. "The inconsistency," All-Star forward Paul George bemoaned to reporters. "We have yet to feel comfortable with the way these games are going. We preach one thing, then it comes to game-time and it's not being done." Atlanta dropped an 85-83 home decision to the Clippers on Wednesday and it committed a season-worst 23 turnovers. The contest against the Pacers and Sunday's game against the Miami Heat complete a stretch in which the Hawks play six of seven on the road.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Southeast (Atlanta), FSN Indiana
ABOUT THE HAWKS (27-20): The productivity of point guard Jeff Teague has dipped a bit this season and rumors are circulating that Atlanta has discussed trading Teague to the New York Knicks. Teague could be viewed as expendable now that 22-year-old backup Dennis Schroder appears ready to be an NBA starter. Schroder averaged 15.3 points during a three-game stretch before scoring seven points against the Clippers while Teague was on his game and had 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting.
ABOUT THE PACERS (23-22): George has emerged from a slump with back-to-back 30-points after experiencing a lag partly brought on by fatigue issues. One player trending upward is rookie power forward Myles Turner, who had 16 points in 18 minutes against the Clippers for his sixth consecutive double-figure outing. "I'm playing ball at end of the day," Turner told reporters. "It's cool. Of course, I'm going to work for a starting job but I can't complain if I'm out there playing 20, 25, 30 minutes a game."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Pacers posted a 93-87 home victory over the Hawks on Dec. 28 to end a four-game losing streak in the series.
2. Indiana SG Monta Ellis, who had just six points against the Clippers, tallied a season-best 26 points in last month's win over Atlanta.
3. Atlanta SG Kyle Korver made all four of his 3-point attempts against the Clippers and is 10-of-15 in the past three contests.