C.J. McCollum came off the bench to lead three Atlanta players with 20-plus points and the Hawks came from behind to defeat the visiting Indiana Pacers 132-116 on Monday afternoon.
McCollum scored 23, Dyson Daniels had 22 and Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 21 to pace Atlanta to its third consecutive victory.
Atlanta has won both contests against the Pacers this season and has beaten Indiana in their last four meetings. The Pacers went 1-4 on their five-game road trip.
The start time for this game was moved up several hours as a result of Sunday’s winter storm.
McCollum and Alexander-Walker both made five 3-pointers and Daniels, who scored 20 for the fourth time this season and first time since Jan. 3, added nine assists. Jalen Johnson scored 15 and Onyeka Okongwu had 12 points and 10 rebounds for his 11th double-double.
Indiana was led by Pascal Siakam with 26 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Aaron Nesmith scored 18 and Bennedict Mathurin and T.J. McConnell each scored 16 off the bench.
With Mathurin scoring 10, Indiana led by as many as nine points and was ahead 38-34 after one quarter. The lead stretched to 10 on Johnny Furphy’s layup at 9:40, but the Hawks went on a 12-2 run and tied the game 46-46 on Johnson’s 3-pointer at 7:36. Indiana responded by outscoring Atlanta 14-3 to go ahead by 11 and led 64-60 at halftime.
The Pacers built a 15-point lead, going up 85-70 on Siakam’s layup, only to have the Hawks outscore them 25-7 the rest of the third quarter. Luke Kennard’s 3-pointer and layup on consecutive possessions gave the Hawks the lead at 1:18, and they carried a 95-92 lead into the fourth.
Atlanta went ahead 102-92 — its biggest lead of the game — with 10:07 remaining. The Pacers got as close as four but Christian Koloko’s dunk and Alexander-Walker’s triple restored the double-digit lead at 112-100 to squash any comeback hopes.
The Hawks played without starters Zaccharie Risacher (left knee bone contusion) and Kristaps Porzingis (left Achilles). The team elevated Risacher’s status to day-to-day and hinted he could play as early as next week. Porzingis will be re-evaluated in another week.
–Field Level Media
