Hawks trounced by Pacers 129-112 in poor defensive showing

The Atlanta Hawks were in Indiana on Tuesday evening to take on the Pacers. They were not able to secure the win, losing 129-112 behind a very poor performance on the defensive end.

Both teams are in the middle of the pack record-wise, with the Pacers coming in at 17-17 and the Hawks at 17-16. The Pacers have been quite a surprise this season from many, but the steady play of Tyrese Haliburton is a major cause for their success. The Hawks are coming off a win against the Detroit Pistons last Friday, and are looking to find some consistency to their season.

The Hawks got off to a good start leading 11-5 with two three-pointers from Bogdan Bogdanovic and one from Trae Young.

The Pacers then begin to show the Hawks that they’re not the only ones that knock down shots from the perimeter, as Buddy Held returned the favor with two threes of his own. As the quarter went on, the Pacers got into a nice flow with the help of their bench, who combined for 11 points to end the first quarter.

Heading into the second quarter, the Hawks trailed the Pacers 30-27. It was the same story throughout the start of the second, with the Hawks trying to find a way to stop the Pacers offense.

Bogdanovic did a little of everything, including dish out this assist to Onyeka Okongwu in the quarter.

Oshae Brissett and Bennedict Mathurin led the way for the Pacers in the quarter, combining for 22 points. The Pacers took a 57-42 lead down the stretch, as the Hawks couldn't get much going on either side of the floor. Things started to pick up on offense for the Hawks late, but they still trailed 64-54 going into halftime.

Throughout most of the second half, the Hawks were stuck trying to get their deficit cut down to single digits. They were able to do that numerous times, but the Pacers always had an answer. Collins had a nice third quarter, hitting multiple threes to keep the Hawks close.

Young was in an offensive rhythm as well, and did what he usually does, scoring and finding his teammates for easy shots.

The Hawks started to gain some traction in the fourth quarter, cutting their deficit down to as much as six points. That didn’t scare the Pacers, as they went on another run and increased their lead back to double digits.

From there, everything went wrong for the Hawks and right for the Pacers. Collins and Okongwu fouled out late in the quarter, and Haliburton put on a fourth-quarter clinic for the Pacers. With about four minutes remaining, Nate McMillan cleared out the bench. Young left the game late in the fourth with what the Hawks described as a left calf contusion and did not return.

Collins finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds, Young finished with 22 points and 10 assists, and Bogdanovic finished with 18 points.

The Hawks will be back in action tomorrow to take on the Brooklyn Nets.

Stay tuned.