Atlanta Hawks Beat Indiana Pacers 143-130
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Summary
The Atlanta Hawks and Indiana Pacers entered Saturday evening's matchup with just three games separating the two teams and heavy postseason implications riding on the outcome.
In an unusual turn of events, Atlanta defeated Indiana 143-130 without much help from their best player. With 7:25 remaining in the third quarter, Trae Young fired a chest pass to an official after having a shot waved off for an offensive foul.
Young was promptly tossed with a single-technical foul ejection. It is Young's 15th technical foul of the season, and the fiery floor general is now just one technical foul shy from a one-game suspension.
Young's ejection must have galvanized his team, as Atlanta quickly blew the game open. With De'Andre Hunter (knee) and Jalen Johnson (hamstring/groin) out, Garrison Matthews cracked the rotation and made the most of his time. Matthews hit 4-5 threes and finished with 14 points.
It's tough for any team to hang with the Hawks when they shoot 50% from behind the arc. To make matters more challenging for Indiana, their starters struggled in the second half. Jordan Nwora led the way with 33 points, but Indiana ran out of gas on the second night of a back-to-back.
Atlanta improves to 37-37, while Indiana falls to 33-42 on the season. The Hawks host Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies tomorrow evening in State Farm Arena.
Stats
Hawks Leaders
John Collins - 21 PTS, 3 AST
Dejounte Murray - 20 PTS, 12 AST
Saddiq Bey - 18 PTS, 6 REB
Pacers Leaders
Jordan Nwora - 33 PTS, 7 REB
Tyrese Haliburton - 19 PTS, 13 AST
Buddy Hield - 16 PTS, 5 AST
