NBA --No.8 Hawks stun No.1 Pacers on the road
By Homer D. Sayson
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 20 Apr 2014
CHICAGO -- Jeff Teague proved too much to handle for the Indiana Pacers.
The shifty guard poured a game-high 28 points Saturday night to lead the No.8 seeded Atlanta Hawks to a stunning 101-93 upset over the No.1 ranked Indiana Pacers in the opening day of the 2014 NBA playoffs at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Teague, who sank 9-of-19 shots and dished five dimes, orchestrated a 30-16 third quarter run that allowed the Hawks to distance themselves after a close match that was tied at 50-50 at halftime.
Paul Millsap dropped 20 and eight boards and Kyle Korver and DeMarre Carroll had 12 points each to help the Hawks build a 20-point lead they would never relinquish.
After topping the Eastern Conference with a regular season record of 56-26, the Pacers had no answers against the Hawks, who finished the regular season with a mere 38-44 slate.
"I just wanted to be aggressive. We know they're a good defensive team with a lot of length. We just wanted to attack, stay aggressive and hit the open guy. We've got a lot of shot-makers. We know they are a long team who likes to clog the paint. But we want to stretch the floor against them," Teague told NBA.com.
Paul George provided the bulk of Indiana's scoring with 24 plus 10 rebounds, but the All-Star shooting guard missed 12 of 18 field goals as the Pacers converted just 34 of their 81 field goals.
Lance Stephenson had 19 for Indy and point guard George Hill chipped in 12, but 7-foot-2 center Roy Hibbert was not a factor, finishing with 8 points and 8 boards while making just 4-of-9 field goals.
The Pacers look for the equalizer when Game 2 of this best-of-7 series resumes Tuesday night (Wednesday morning in Manila) at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse. (Homer D. Sayson)
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