Hawks, Pacers Seek To Return To Winning Ways In Pivotal Showdown

The Atlanta Hawks are scheduled to fly to Indiana on Friday, January 12 to face the hosting Pacers in a battle of two teams looking to get back on track.

The Hawks and Pacers fell to the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks respectively.

In their showdown set at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, the encounter may boil down to which players will step up and want it more.

On one end is Atlanta, who suffered a 105-114 beating at the hands of the Bucks.

Trae Young and Clint Capella were not present in that game, but the Hawks gave it their all especially in the third quarter through the efforts of John Collins and Bogdan Bogdanovic.

"We did a better job of applying pressure in the second half," Atlanta coach Nate McMillan said. "This is a team that's going to try to attack the paint, attack the rim and if they can't get to the rim, they're going to shoot 3s. In the second half, we got more pressure, disrupted more, and were able to get some stops."

The Hawks are averaging 115 points per game, 11th in scoring offense in the league. They are also ranked 11th in rebounding with 44 caroms per contest.

On defense, Atlanta is limiting opponents to 116.3 points per match, 21st in the league.

Bogdanovic led the Hawks with 22 points and five assists, whereas De'Andre Hunter did his share by contributing 16 markers and nine boards.

The Pacers, on the other hand, are still smarting from a loss to the Knicks, 113-119.

Buddy Hield led the way for Indiana with 31 points and willed his way in trying to help the Pacers come back to as much as 25 points down.

Unfortunately, the triumvirate of Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle and a returning RJ Barrett proved too much to overcome for Indiana.

Aside from dropping 31 markers, Hield also hauled down eight rebounds. Benedict Mathurin backed him up with 20 points coming off the bench along with six caroms.

The Pacers are 10th in the league in scoring with 115.6 points per outing. They are also averaging 41.9 caroms per contest, which is 25th in the league.

Oddsmakers pick the Hawks as -3 spread favorites to prevail over the +3-rated Pacers.

Meanwhile, the moneyline for this showdown is -149 for Atlanta and +125 for Indiana.

The game will air via NBA League Pass and fuboTV at 7:10 PM ET on Friday.