The Indiana Pacers stayed alive in their Eastern Conference Round 1 matchup vs. the No. 8-seeded Atlanta Hawks with a victory on Atlanta's home court. They also staved off disaster in the form of a suspension for superstar Paul George, who appeared to step onto the court during a minor fight. Tonight at 5:30 p.m., they will link up for the final time this postseason in Indiana on TNT which can be live streamed free by clicking this link. Pacers fans can listen to the game on 1070 The Fan, while Hawks fans may do the same on CBS 92.9 Atlanta.
George wasn't suspended by the league, which is good news for Indiana. He's led them in points (22.8) and rebounds (10.7) the entire series, and up until Game 6 was tops in assists as well. He's scored 20 or more points in each game, and has racked up double-doubles in five of them.
The Pacers are 6.5-point favorites, largely because of their home court advantage, but head coach Frank Vogel warned against complacency because of the home crowd.
"My thing is that three of the last four times we've played these guys (in Indy), they built 20-point leads and beat us pretty good," Vogel said. "So I don't think anyone from this team can think we're going to be OK just because we're back home."
Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer sounded supremely confident before this big game, partially because of past successes on the Pacers' court but also because of this team's heart.
"We've responded well all year when we've been in difficult situations," Budenholzer said Friday. "Part of our response is going to have to be better execution. I think we have a lot of positive reference points from all year. Our group has been very good and very resilient. I have a lot of confidence in our group."
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