NBA Playoffs 2013: Pacers vs. Hawks Recap
By Phil Watson
Free-agent-to-be Josh Smith had an up-and-down series for the Atlanta Hawks, who were one-and-done again in the NBA playoffs, this time falling to the Indiana Pacers in six games. Photo Credit: Mark Runyon, Basketball Schedule
The series America loved to hate ended on Friday, May 3, when the Indiana Pacers defeated the Atlanta Hawks at Phillips Arena in the ATL, 81-73.
When asked on ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption” on Friday afternoon if the Pacers-Hawks series would end in Game 6, co-host Tony Kornheiser’s response was, “If there is a God.”
Yeah, it was that kind of a series, a series few people seemed to care about and even fewer watched. In every playoffs, the first round includes the so-called “NBA TV series,” the one that gets shuffled off to a network that few people have available to them.
The Pacers and the Hawks was that series.
Friday night’s eight-point margin was the smallest of the series—every other game was decided by double digits, so the games lacked late-game drama. Neither team could shoot straight: The Pacers’ 41.5 percent shooting is 14th among the 16 playoff teams and Atlanta was only marginally better at 42.2 percent, good for 13th-best. Indiana turned the ball over 93 times in six games … and won the series.
No, this series will not go down in NBA annals as a classic, to be sure. Let’s take a look at the series in review:
Game Scores (Indiana wins series 4-2)
Game 1 at Indianapolis: Pacers 107, Hawks 90
Game 2 at Indianapolis: Pacers 113, Hawks 98
Game 3 at Atlanta: Hawks 90, Pacers 69
Game 4 at Atlanta: Hawks 102, Pacers 91
Game 5 at Indianapolis: Pacers 106, Hawks 83
Game 6 at Atlanta: Pacers 81, Hawks 73
Series MVP
Paul George helped pace Indiana back to the Eastern Conference semifinals. Photo Credit: IsoSports, Flickr.com
George, a first-time All-Star in 2012-13, was getting his first taste of the postseason as a team’s go-to guy and he responded well.
This year’s Most Improved Player logged his first career triple-double in the series opener, scoring 23 points, getting 11 rebounds and notching 12 assists. For the series, George averaged 18.7 points, 9.5 rebounds and five assists per game—all team highs—and while he didn’t shoot particularly well (41.8 percent overall, 28 percent from deep), George did the things he had to do to lead his team to the next round.
George was quiet in Game 6, at least offensively, scoring just four points on 2-of-10 shooting, but he had seven boards and seven helpers and was one of the defenders responsible for harassing free-agent-to-be Josh Smith into a lackluster 5-for-16 shooting performance for the Hawks.
But George had a big performance in Game 5:
Biggest Surprise
George Hill was solid for the Indiana Pacers in the first round. (NBA.com photo)
Hill had a big series against Atlanta, with 15.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. The scoring was a slight uptick from the regular season even while his minutes remained about the same.
Hill shot 44.9 percent for the series (a series in which no one on the Pacers shot well) and was 10-for-30 from 3-point land. He also had 21 points in the clincher on Friday night, matching David West for the team high, and teamed with West for 22 points in the third period as the Pacers opened a 15-point lead.
He also was a defensive force in Game 6, harassing point guards Jeff Teague and Devin Harris—particularly during a second quarter in which Atlanta made just 1-of-15 shots and scored nine points.
At one point, the Hawks’ offense was so disjointed that they ended up with Johan Petro firing up a 19-footer as the shot clock expired. Considering Petro has an effective shooting range of about 17 inches, that’s probably not what Atlanta coach Larry Drew was after, but it was all they could get because of the way Hill harried and harassed the Hawks’ point guards throughout the game.
The highlight of the series for Indiana came in Game 2, however:
Biggest Disappointment
Josh Smith
Josh Smith disappeared for much of Game 6 as the Hawks were bounced from the postseason. (NBA.com photo)
Smith will likely be one of the most hotly pursued free agents this summer, but this series captured both the best and the worst of his game.
At his best, Smith scored 29 points in Game 4 as the Hawks evened the series at two games apiece. At his worst, Smith had 14 points on 5-of-16 shooting and turned the ball over four times in the Game 6 loss.
At this point, Smith is what he is—a physical specimen with the basketball IQ of a turnip. He thrills crowds with his monster dunks and his ability to handle the ball for a guy his size (6’9”, 225 pounds). On the other hand, he drives coaches and teammates alike inside with his insistence that he is some sort of threat from 3-point range—taking almost three attempts a game despite being barely a 30 percent shooter from out there.
But at least he makes up for all of that by shooting 51.7 percent from the free-throw line, although in fairness, he did increase that mark to a whopping 52.8 in the series against Indiana.
Smith enters free agency seeking a max deal from someone and the odds are good that he will get it, at which time he will enter the Rashard Lewis Zone—a player with no business getting a max deal somehow managing to get a max deal.
What’s Next
vs. New York Knicks
The Pacers open their Eastern Conference semifinal against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, May 5, with a 3:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time tip on ABC.
New York finally closed out the Boston Celtics with an 88-80 win Friday night.
The teams split the season series this year, with each team winning at home. New York won at the Garden 88-76 on Nov. 18 and 90-80 on April 14, while the Pacers won in Indianapolis 81-76 on Jan. 10 and 125-91 on Feb. 20.