Hawks humble Pacers

The Pacers lost to the visiting Atlanta Hawks 107-97 Monday night and now trail the Hawks 3-2 in their best of seven first-round Eastern Conference playoff series. Game 6 will be in Atlanta at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Forethoughts
So it's all come down to this. A season that began with such high hopes back when preseason started in October, and continued on through basically the first 50 or 60 games, is all on the line.

C.J. Watson was one of the bright spots
for the Pacers Monday with 15 points.

The Pacers need to do something they haven't done much of lately and that's win two straight to continue on to the next round. This loss, well, it's kind of a what can you say, but yet there's a lot to say too. Just how can one of the best defensive teams in the league fall behind by 30 points,to the Atlanta Hawks of all people, on their homecourt. There were some offensive teams the Pacers played throughout the season, the Clippers, Thunder, Blazers and even the Suns, for example, that can light it up against anybody. The Hawks, though? It's hard to say what was worse in the second quarter: The Pacers lack of ability to adjust defensively after Mike Scott hit his first couple of 3-pointers or the Pacers lack of desire to keep playing hard in the midst of his barrage. To be a little fair here, the last time Scott hit more than three 3-pointers in a game was Feb. 22 against the Knicks when he hit 6 of 7. And in the Hawks last 27 regular season games, he hit more than two 3-pointers in a game just once. So you know, sure, you have to pay a little attention to him, but you don't build your defense around trying to stop him either. But clearly, once he hit a couple, the Pacers should have made the adjustment to not let him just stand there and shoot. He's not Paul Millsap, who can take a player off the dribble. All he can do is just stand there and shoot. It's not that complicated of a defensive adjustment to make. Give the Hawks a little credit too. If something is working, you keep doing it until the other team stops it. That's just basic philosophy for any competition. So, yes, to see that happen was discouraging in all kinds of ways. For the last couple of months, we've sometimes thought, and sometimes heard, that the Pacers have time to get their early season attitude back. Well, time has run out. It's now or never on Thursday, and if they get through that, then on Saturday, too.
The Big Plays
Scott had 17 points hitting five 3-pointers in the second quarter and then too, there was former Butler star Shelvin Mack, who scored 13 points and had four assists in the quarter. In all, the Hawks won the second quarter 41-19.
The Ups
1) OK, I'll be the optimist here just for a second. The fact the Pacers were down 30 and cut the gap to nine at one point when there was still time and hope, maybe that bodes well for Thursday night. The fact that they didn't give up was at least something to hold on to. Not much. But something.
2) At least this wasn't a best of five first-round series like it used to be.
The Downs
1) Of course, defending the 3-pointer was the issue here. The Hawks hit an astounding 15 of 27 from 3-point land and were 18 of 39 from two-point range. Not hard math to do here on where the defense needs concentrate more on stoppoing.
2) It would have been hard to imagine at this time last year that Pacers center Roy Hibbert would be rendered nearly useless in a playoff series. But zero points, zero rebounds, one blocked shot and four fouls in 12 plus minutes Thursday pretty much says it all.
Next Up
Thursday will be the ultimate test for the Pacers on many levels. Will they have the desire and also mental stability to win an elimination game on the road? If a Mike Scott type situation happens again, will the coaching staff be quick to adjust, or just hope he starts missing? As former NBA star and former announcer Bill Walton used to say, "these are the playoffs!" It's not time to stand around and watch and hope things go your way. It's time to go impose your will on the other team. That's really the Pacers only choice and only chance Thursday.