Pacers aim for continued improvement vs. Hawks
The Indiana Pacers have won just 12 of their first 48 games, but every so often they offer glimpses of the team that reached the NBA finals last season.
The injury-plagued Pacers look to build on an encouraging victory when they face the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday in Indianapolis.
Indiana rallied for a 113-110 home win over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, while Atlanta had its four-game winning streak snapped in a 104-86 home loss to the Houston Rockets on Thursday.
Pascal Siakam scored 20 points and Andrew Nembhard added 18 in the Pacers' win over Chicago. Indiana trailed by 14 points with 7:14 left in the contest before storming back to win for the second time in its last three games.
Siakam has scored at least 20 points in eight straight games for the Pacers, who have used a league-high 25 different starting lineup combinations this season.
The team's lengthy injury list includes point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who is out for the season with an Achilles tear suffered in last season's Game 7 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals.
"We understand that we're in a different place and a different position," Siakam said. "But I just feel like no matter all the adversity that we've been through and everything that's happened, we just have to keep it going.
"We can't think about our record. We can't think about anything. We just have to keep focusing on how we can improve and not lose our identity, who we are. No matter who is out there, we have an identity, and that's gotta stick."
Indiana is looking to avoid a season sweep after losing its first two meetings against Atlanta. The Hawks posted a 128-108 road victory on Oct. 31 before winning 132-116 at home on Jan. 26.
Atlanta will be without center Onyeka Okongwu for the second straight game after the center suffered a dental fracture in Wednesday's win over the Boston Celtics.
The Hawks are also monitoring the status of leading scorer Jalen Johnson, who sat out Thursday's game against Houston with left calf tightness. He is listed as questionable.
With both Okongwu and Johnson sidelined against the Rockets, Atlanta faded in the second half and trailed by as many as 22 in the fourth quarter.
"Not having Jalen and ‘O' is substantial," Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. "Their ability to create advantages is something that we rely on defensively. That said, when we did get into the paint, we were trying to challenge."
CJ McCollum scored 23 points to lead Atlanta in the loss. Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 20 and Corey Kispert had 17. McCollum has scored at least 20 points in three of his last four games.
Christian Koloko started in place of Okongwu and recorded six points, seven rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block in nearly 26 minutes.
After averaging 120.8 points and 17.3 3-pointers during their four-game winning streak, the Hawks were held to 36.6% shooting and 12 3-pointers in the loss to Houston.
"(The Rockets) are an excellent defensive team, but I think there were some things that we've been doing that we didn't do," Snyder said.