I just wanted to post this picture to prove that Mike Dunleavy can do more than make a drunk face.

Yesterday I said that the Pacers needed to beat the Hawks to stay in the playoff race.  Last night, they went out and put the Hawks down with ease.  The Pacers trailed 20-14 early in first quarter, then finished with a 24-7 run to lead 38-27 by the end of the first 12 minutes.  They were well on their way to a 112-98 victory.

Mike Dunleavy lead the Pacers with 28 points.  He was 8-16 shooting and 4-6 from 3's.  Flip Murray pushed the ball well and finished the game with 20 points and 10 assists.  Danny Granger finished with 16 points and 8 rebounds.  Overall, the Pacers had six players score double figures.

One of the things I talked about yesterday was not allowing Atlanta to make a living off of offensive rebounds.  Well, they ended up with 20 of them.  That is about 15 too many!  If Atlanta didn't shoot 37% from the field, this game would have been a LOT closer. 

The Hawks trailed by 29 in the third quarter and then Joe Johnson took over.  He scored 19 of his 30 points in the second half.  He was hitting just about everything he put up.  They actually had the lead down to 10 points, then a Shawne Williams tap in put the lead back to 12 and the Pacers didn't let up anymore.

Indiana is now 2 games behind Atlanta for the 8th and final playoff spot.  Both teams have four games remaining.  Indiana really needs to win them all to have a safe chance.  Here are their remaining schedules:

Indiana: 

• Friday - @ Philly
• Saturday - Charlotte
• Monday - @ Washington
• Wednesday - New York

Atlanta:

• Friday - @ New York
• Saturday - Boston
• Tuesday - Orlando
• Wednesday - @ Miami

Looking at the two, I think that both teams have two gimme games and the other two are going to be grinders.  The advantage goes to Atlanta though, since they get to play Boston and Orlando at home, while Indiana has to play Philly and Washington on the road.