Jermaine O'Neal takes wings off the Hawks
An MVP-worthy performance by Jermaine O'Neal helped give Indiana the win over the 5-5 Atlanta Hawks @ Conseco Fieldhouse
Starting 5:
C Jermaine O'Neal
PF Al Harrington
SF Marquis Daniels
SG Ricky Davis
PG Sarunas Jasekivicus
C Zaza Pachulia
PF Shelden Williams
SF Josh Smith
SG Joe Johnson
PG Speedy Claxton
Indiana Pacers set up their offense well in the first getting good looks at the basket as did the Hawks, with
Harrington, Davis, O'Neal, Claxton and Williams all getting on the scoreboard early on. As the quarter went on however, it seemed to deteriorate meaning not much points were put up by either team late on
1st Quarter: Hawks 12-14 Indiana
Sarunas Jasekivicius made his case even stronger on keeping his starting PG place over
Darrel Armstrong geting a steal and a three-pointer much to the home fans delight.
Speedy Claxton raced through the lanes for some and good rebounding by
Williams kept the scores close.
2cnd Quarter: Hawks 25-27 Pacers
Jermaine O'Neal kept pushing the Atlanta defense to its limits and
Pachulia couldn't cope as he got 11 ponts in 3 minutes.
Shelden Williams and
Josh Smith dunked 6 points between them but
Harrington and Davis hit back with jams of their own meaning the scores were tied at the end of the 3rd, making way for an exciting 4th quarter @ Conseco Fieldhouse
3rd Quarter: Hawks 41-41 Pacers
Harrington and Claxton got the 4th quarter going but good defense from
Jermaine O'Neal kept draft-pick
Shelden Williams out and
Marquis Daniels was able to convert.
Joe Johnson almost singel-handedly bought Atlanta back though and the score was 53-52 Indiana. Then
Jermaine O'Neal sprung to life, swatting away 4 attempts on 2 plays -
Williams, Claxton (x2) and Josh Smith. He also did his part on the offense getting 3 assists to his outside men, and
Marquis Daniels stretched the lead. With 57 seconds to go - Atlanta called a time-out with the score at 63-57. However the defense of the Pacers stayed strong and
Davis and Harrington were sent to the charity stripe to end the game
Final Score: Hawks 57-66 Pacers
Quote Of the game:
"Wow, what a great defensive player. Jermaine O'Neal is underrated, when you think of shot-blockers you think of Andrei Kirilenko, Tim Thomas but O'Neal is right up there with the best in the league" -
Steve Kerr
POG: Jermaine O'Neal - 18pts, 14 rbs, 5 assists, 6 blocks
Keystats: Jermaine O'Neal made the paint his own with 6 blocks and high-point man Ricky Davis grabbed 19 points to clinch the victory despite 13 rebounds by Shelden Williams and 16 pts by Speedy Claxton