ATLANTA (AP) — Trae Young had 22 points and 16 assists, Onyeka Okongwu added 20 points and 13 rebounds and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Indiana Pacers 124-118 on Thursday night to open a two-game set.
Georges Niang scored 12 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter for the Hawks, who had lost five in a row against Indiana since the 2022-23 season. His layup with 1:07 left put Atlanta up 116-109.
Pascal Siakam had 35 points for the Pacers, who were playing without two-time All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton for only the second time this season. Haliburton was out with a hip issue.
The Pacers had a 92-82 lead late in the third quarter after a 11-0 run when Siakam hit three 3-pointers. Atlanta outscored them 38-24 in the fourth quarter.
Aaron Nesmith added 21 points for the Pacers, while Andrew Nembhard had 15 points and 10 assists.
Takeaways
Pacers: The No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference hadn’t lost to Atlanta since March 25, 2023. Along with Haliburton, the Pacers were without Bennedict Mathurin, who missed his fourth game in a row with a sprained right wrist.
Hawks: Atlanta won for only the third time in its last nine games. Coach Quin Snyder was back on the bench after missing Tuesday night’s game with flu-like symptoms.
Key moment
The Hawks went ahead to stay when Niang hit consecutive 3-pointers over a 45-second span, the second of those with 5:03 left to make it 107-102.
Key stat
Atlanta made 12 of 18 shots from the field in the fourth quarter.
Up next
The Pacers and Hawks play again in Atlanta on Saturday night.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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