Home cooking sure looked sweet for the Atlanta Hawks who jumped out to a 54-30 lead at halftime over the Indiana Pacers. The Hawks fell behind 8-1 early and then responded with a huge run as they completely flipped the script on the Pacers.
Prior to the game, Larry Drew opted to make an adjustment going with a bigger starting lineup that featured Johan Petro at center. Defensively the move seemed to have an effect on the Hawks who have clearly been the aggressor in Game 3. Paul George has 12 points and five boards for the Pacers but George Hill and Roy Hibbert combined for two points on 1-10 shooting in the first half.
Al Horford leads the Hawks with 12 points and nine rebounds at the break. Josh Smith also finished the half with 12 points and has a team-best three steals. Devin Harris has eight points and Jeff Teague six for Atlanta. Ivan Johnson played some valuable minutes off the bench and finished the half with five points and seven boards.
The only negative for the Hawks was that Jeff Teague left the game late in the second quarter after injuring his elbow on a drive against Hibbert. Teague reportedly hurt his funny bone on the play and could return in the second half.