Hawks, Howard handle Pacers
INDIANAPOLIS -- Dwight Howard had 23 points and 20 rebounds and Paul Millsap
added 18 points on Wednesday night as the Atlanta Hawks handed Indiana
its third consecutive loss, defeating the Pacers 96-85 in Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Atlanta (10-5) bounced back from an 18-point Tuesday night home loss to New
Orleans to dominate struggling Indiana (7-9). The Hawks are 4-0 this season in the second game of a back to back.
The Hawks, who also got 13 points each from Mike Muscala and Malcolm Delaney, outrebounded the Pacers 56-37.
Thaddeus Young led Indiana with 24 points and seven rebounds. Monta Ellis added 19 points and Paul George scored 18, but he was only 6 of 22 from the field, including 2 of 11 from 3-point range.
Atlanta shot 42.4 percent (36 of 85) and Indiana shot 40.5 percent (34 of 84).
A Howard layup with 6:47 remaining gave Atlanta a commanding 88-68 lead, but the Pacers scored the next eight to slice the deficit to 88-76 with 5:12 left.
After Indiana closed to within 65-64, Atlanta unleashed a 17-2 burst to lead 82-66 with 8:54 remaining.
Atlanta opened the third quarter with a 13-7 run to take a 62-51 lead with 7:35 remaining in the quarter. A Schroder 3-pointer with 6:15 to go in the quarter pushed the Hawks' lead to 65-53.
But Indiana countered with a 9-0 run to pull within 65-62 with 4:08 left in the quarter.
The Hawks led 49-44 at halftime, getting 16 points and 11 rebounds from Howard during the first 24 minutes when Atlanta led by as many as 17.
Muscalla added 10 points and four rebounds coming off the bench.
Young had 15 points for the Pacers and Ellis addd eight during the first two quarters.
Atlanta outrebounded Indiana 30-15 in the first half, including 11-1 on the offensive end. The Pacers shot 46.3 percent from the field (19 of 41) in the first two quarters and Atlanta shot 42.6 percent (20 of 47).
NOTES: The Hawks were without G Kyle Korver, who is resting and did not travel with the team. ... The Pacers were without G/F C.J. Miles (sore left knee). ... Atlanta made a starting lineup change, inserting G Kent Bazemore in place of Tim Hardaway, Jr. ... Indiana played without leading scorer and F Paul George (ankle) in Monday night's 37-point loss to Golden State, but he was back in the starting lineup against Atlanta. ... The Hawks entered ranked second in NBA field goal percentage (47.8), second in assists per game (25.1) and second in opponents turnovers per game (16.6). ... The Pacers came in ranked second in blocks per game (6.5) and third in opponents turnovers per game (16.2). ... Atlanta and Indiana split last season's four-game series, each winning twice on its home court. ... The teams don't play again until March 5 in Atlanta. ... The NBA announced Wednesday that the Pacers' Dec. 22 home game against Boston will start at 7 p.m. instead of the previously announced 8 p.m. Fox Sports Indiana now will televise the game instead of TNT.