Joe Johnson shook off a slow first half and took over down the stretch as the Atlanta Hawks defeated the Indiana Pacers by a score of 110-104, in what has become an all too common theme for Pacer followers. The smooth seventh year pro scored 12 of his game high 27 points in the final stanza, including a back breaking three point shot with 1:36 left to power the Hawks to their sixth straight victory.
The Pacers were led in scoring by Danny Granger who had 25 points to go along with 7 rebounds and five assists. Jarrett Jack added 22 for the Pacers, while Troy Murphy and Jeff Foster both turned in solid performances by reaching double figures in both points and rebounds.
The Hawks while led by Johnson, were not a one man show as Josh Smith added 24 points, along with Mike Bibby who tallied 15 and a game high six assists. Al Horford added 12 and 14 rebounds for the Hawks who have now won nine of their last ten games, and their first at Conseco Fieldhouse in their last five visits. Atlanta is now 21-10 on the season.
Notes: T.J. Ford played just 11 minutes in the game and was mostly ineffective due to injuries. Hawks head coach Mike Woodson turned a few heads when he stated after the game that Joe Johnson belongs in the same class as Kobe Bryant and Lebron James. Johnson is currently ninth in the league in scoring averaging 23.3 points a game.
The Pacers next home game is Saturday January 3rd. The start time has been changed to 6pm to allow Pacer fans to see both the game against the visiting Sacramento Kings, and watch the Indianapolis Colts first round playoff game afterwards, which kicks off on NBC At 8:10 pm EST.
Danny Bridges can be reached at (317) 578-1780 or at Bridgeshd@aol.com
