The Indiana Pacers and Atlanta Hawks just produced one of the highest-scoring games in recent memory, putting up a combined 309 points. Indiana picked up the win by a score of 157-152.
It was a wild game that saw two of the league’s best offenses battle it out. And at the same time, it was two of the league’s worst defenses, making the scoring even crazier.
The Pacers shot a ridiculous 60.6% from the field and 48.9% from three-point range, while the Hawks shot 60.0% from the floor and 48.4% from beyond the arc.
Both teams were on fire, most likely due to the teams’ bad defenses, but it produced an insane on-court product nonetheless. Let’s check out two studs and one dud from the game.
Stud - Tyrese Haliburton
Tyrese Haliburton - back where he belongs. After a rough game against the Orlando Magic, Haliburton is back on top, as he was nothing short of incredible in the win over the Atlanta Hawks.
The Indiana Pacers point guard finished the game with 37 points, five rebounds, 16 assists, three steals, and one block while shooting 11-of-18 shooting from the field and 9-of-15 shooting from distance.
As per usual, Haliburton dominated in the scoring and playmaking departments, leading the way for a Pacers team that has depended on him this season.
He’s on pace for another All-Star season and could even make a bid for an All-NBA Team by the time the year comes to an end (and these monster scoring nights certainly help out the stats).
Dud - TJ McConnell
On a night where scoring was through the roof, it was a bit tough to pick a dud. Everyone’s box score numbers were through the roof, but on the court, not everyone was amazing.
Box score stats are obviously not everything, but when looking at duds, it’s commonly the players who turned the ball over too much, had a rough shooting night, or failed to meet expectations.
Against the Atlanta Hawks, we’ll roll with TJ McConnell as the dud, which is a bit odd, especially considering he only played 13:46 in a game where seven others played significantly more minutes.
Unfortunately for McConnell, his brief time on the court was met with much backlash on social media, as he didn’t really bring much.
McConnell ended the game with two points and four assists while shooting 1-of-5 from the floor. And on top of that, he was a -4, which was the third-worst mark on the team.
Fans on social media talked about his apparent unwillingness to pass to Tyrese Haliburton and hesitancy to shoot open threes. But that’s just not his game.
The 31-year-old is a well-respected veteran, and this was nothing more than just an off night. And it makes sense because the pace in this game was crazy, and McConnell often prefers to slow things down a bit and run the offense. He’ll be fine.
Stud - Buddy Hield
For the first time this season, Buddy Hield was inserted into the Indiana Pacers’ starting lineup. He replaced Bennedict Mathurin, who reentered the bench role that he was in for the majority of his rookie season.
And despite having a relatively rough shooting season compared to his career average (40.1%), Hield returned to form in the Pacers’ win over the Atlanta Hawks.
Hield finished the game with 24 points, two rebounds, and one assist while shooting 9-of-11 from the floor and an incredible 6-of-6 from beyond the three-point line.
It wasn’t just a hot shooting night for Hield, though. It was a night where the Pacers were significantly better with the veteran shooting guard on the court.
Indiana only won this game by five points, but in his 30:53 of playing time (third-most on the team), Hield was a team-high +20. The second-best mark was Isaiah Jackson’s +8.
Also, an honorable mention needs to go to Obi Toppin, who also had a great game against the Hawks. He was also moved into a bench role, just like Mathurin.
Toppin ended the night with 21 points, one rebound, six assists, one steal, and one block while shooting 9-of-16 from the floor and 1-of-6 from behind the three-point line.