Atlanta Hawks 97 Indiana Pacers 83

Boxscore

Gameflow

Highlights

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
IND	95	0.874	42	18.5	11.4	14.7
ATL	93	1.043	47.9	37	22.5	16.1

Some stale observations reconstituted from my game notes following 36 hours of bed-rest...

• It's too early to make generalizations (or compare numbers with any seriousness) about the Hawks with and without Joe Johnson but they do not appear to be qualitatively different in his absence. They have put together three of their four best defensive performances (in terms of defensive efficiency) of the season in his absence.
• Al Horford, it should be noted, put up a Joe Johnson-type line: only 16 points on 20 shots (3 points on 5 shots in the fourth quarter) but 8 assists against just 1 turnover. The 16 rebounds and the quality of Horford's defensive work against Roy Hibbert admittedly do not fit this analogy very well.
• The Horford Treatment wears no better on Josh Smith. He sat for 7:25 of the second quarter with two fouls and finished the game with two fouls. He played over 20 minutes of the second half so his minutes weren't especially curtailed but it's still a no-upside tactical tic.
• Damien Wilkins would be a nice, cheap alternative to Mo Evans, one that probably fits the needs of the roster better. I'm still not sold on playing both of them at the expense of Jordan Crawford.
• A day earlier, I would have included Jeff Teague's name alongside Jordan Crawford's in that previous sentence but not after that first half stint.

Now onto the observations culled from those who met their deadlines...

Larry Drew:

"I thought our bench did a great job in the second quarter. I thought Jeff Teague was the catalyst of that. His speed and his energy when he got into the game got us going."

Here's hoping it leads to better things. A sentiment directed at both player and coach.

Drew with a sound state of the state of Josh Smith's shot selection statement:

"I’ve got to stay on him about shot selection, but the thing with Josh, there’s some things you’ve got to live with and I’m willing to live with them when he’s giving me the energy and effort defensively and he’s still making great plays and great decisions on the offensive end."

Josh Smith on his back-to-back and-1s late in the fourth quarter:

"My team was looking for me, and I was able to deliver."

Jim O'Brien:

"It's a credit to their defense. They really defended us well."

O'Brien on Horford's defense of Hibbert:

"He shut down Roy. He didn't give Roy anything in the low post. He was more physical than Roy. He's a heck of a player. They have a really good basketball team."