Weber: Pacers bench rights ship with dominant stretch
By ROSS WEBER
ISL Correspondent
You could feel it coming. Something huge was bound to happen.
With under 3:30 to go in the third quarter, David West and George Hill scored back-to-back layups, giving the Pacers a 72-65 lead over the Hawks in this must-win Game 2 for Indiana.
Then after a steal, Paul George’s outlet pass to CJ Watson gets knocked out of bounds. You could feel something was close.
West and Hill execute a perfect give and go, then Watson falls and travels on a fast break. The suspense is rising, and the crowd senses something massive is just around the corner.
A Luis Scola jumper to set up a two-for-one, a Ian Mahinmi block. Four seconds left and what do you know?
Amazing happened.
Paul George knocks down the transition three at the buzzer, Bankers Life Fieldhouse explodes, the Indiana Pacers lead the Atlanta Hawks 79-65 at the end of the third quarter. The city of Indianapolis exhaled all at once and checked its pulse. There was a heartbeat for the first time since early March as the Pacers cruised to a 101-85 win to tie the series with Atlanta at one win apiece.
There were signs of life, Pacers fans can breathe again. It all came from a lineup rarely seen out of Frank Vogel.
The lineup of Hill, Watson, George, Scola and Mahinmi played the final 1:22 of the third quarter and the first 6:47 of the fourth quarter. In that 8:09, the Pacers outscored the Hawks 22-6, including a 15-0 run until the 9:00 mark of the fourth quarter. That group held Atlanta to 2-for-16 shooting from the field and 0-for-6 shooting from three point range.
It wasn’t just that the defensive rotations were faster or that the ball was moving on offense, or even that they were seemingly playing basketball. They looked like the Indiana Pacers again.
It felt less like a game with a playoff series deficit and more like a game in the middle of December or January and probably made everyone in Indianapolis, including the players, feel a lot more relaxed.
Everyone got involved in the rejuvenating effort as well; George had 27 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and four steals, Scola had 20 points and seven rebounds on 9-for-14 shooting, Hill had 15 points on 5-for-8 shooting and got to the foul line six times, Mahinmi had two blocks, West had six assists and the bench tallied 38 points.
It was a near perfect second half, but the Pacers can’t stop here. Of course, it was a great first step, and something they absolutely needed to feel confident moving forward. The series still is tied and Indiana has three more games to win. The Pacers need to keep this up.
Playing in Atlanta isn’t a huge disadvantage, as Phillips Arena isn’t known for having crazy crowds of Hawks fans, but being away from The Bank could cause trouble for Indiana. A continuation of Tuesday’s level of energy and play needs to come from the start of game three on Thursday night and not just from the combination that broke open this game.
Even though Roy Hibbert struggled again (1-for-7 shooting), he enjoyed his team’s big win from the bench with West and Lance Stephenson, the other starters not on the floor for that eight-minute run. The starting lineup shouldn’t change, and it likely won’t, but the start of Thursday’s game is very key.
If they continue this level of play, this huge win is a turning point in the season that could lead to the promised land. The problem isn’t solved completely, but it was a huge step in the right direction, now they just have to keep up the pace.
Finally, signs of life.
