Image from ATLHawks Twitter
“I never foul, I haven’t fouled anyone in my life.” Kevin Huerter said in his post-game presser. The comment, delivered with a surprisingly good deadpan, captured how Wednesday night’s game against the Indiana Pacers went. Sure, as fans we should be happy that the refs were too distracted by Huerter’s impeccable contest at the top of Chris Duarte’s last-second lay-up attempt, that they didn’t see his off-hand jersey pull, but this game never really felt like it was in doubt… until it was… and then it wasn’t… and on and on.
Allow me to elaborate: The Hawks got basically anything they wanted on offense, especially in the first half. In the first quarter Atlanta shot 64% from the field, 7-8 from three, and led the Pacers 38-29. And it’s not that this was solely the symptom of a particularly hot shooting period, basically all of these triples were open shots, generated in the flow of the offense. Next time you’re watching Atlanta, just look at how much space this team has to operate on the offensive side of the ball. Trae’s a three-level scorer, everyone besides Capela is a shooting threat, and the rim-running is ferocious. Scoring comes so easily to this team — By the end of the half Young and Huerter had 15 apiece, the bench was chipping in, and the lead held steady at eight.
With all of that being said, during a night like this Pacers contest, when the team is down almost all of its wings, a head coach is self-isolating, and players who haven’t really seen the floor are now tasked with big minutes, things can get a bit dicey. This was especially true on the defensive side of the ball. As easy as it looked for the Hawks, the Pacers were getting a similar diet of easy baskets. Actions run for Domantas Sabonis killed Atlanta, who was able to hit cutters for easy lay-ins because the Hawks were stuck ball-watching. Trae, for everything he does on offense, cannot fight over screens. Pick and rolls that involved him led to some good looks for the Pacers.
Now to some, this might read as a referendum on the Hawk’s defense but the biggest takeaway I had was simply that Atlanta was content to turn this game into a shootout. Granted, I think the defense can certainly improve, especially when it comes to off-ball rotations and communication. Still, the ease with which Trae was generating shots for everyone, read to me as a team wide belief that yeah this Pacers team can’t run with us. And sometimes when you choose to outgun and conserve energy on defense, the basketball gods have a way of upending that plan. Every-time the game seemed put away, the Pacers would creep back in. Trae also went cold in the fourth, as the Pacers really tried to force anyone else to make a play by doubling up on the all-star and running him off the ball. A nonsensical turnover in the closing seconds led to the Chris Duarte foul debacle even taking place.
The Pacers W was a good win, if for nothing else that this team can keep its engine running offensively despite missing so many players. Reinforcements are coming though, and Trae is putting together a fringe-MVP season, an All-NBA case, and a guaranteed all-star selection. Don’t look now, but Ice Trae has had five straight 30-point games and is really rounding into form.
Tonight’s game against the 76ers will be interesting because neither team has an answer for the opposing star, this has all the makings of an Embiid x Young duel. My bet would have to be the Hawks winning by eight.
