ESPNPacers hope to erase recent woes with season sweep of Hawks
The Indiana Pacers will aim to sweep their regular-season series with the Atlanta Hawks for the second straight year on Saturday in Atlanta.
The Pacers have won seven straight games against the Hawks and 11 of the past 12 meetings. Indiana won 105-104 in overtime on Nov. 29 and 110-100 on Dec. 13.
With a 124-116 home loss against Denver on Thursday, the Pacers have lost three of their past four games.
The main problems have been the lack of rebounding and the inability to play well down the stretch.
The Hawks could not build on the momentum gained from ending its 10-game losing streak.
Atlanta dropped a contentious 109-106 decision at Boston on Friday. Atlanta was able to celebrate the return of leading scorer Trae Young. The point guard was back in the lineup after missing two games because of a right ankle sprain and posted 28 points and 10 assists, his 10th double-double of the season.
The Hawks are awaiting further diagnosis on forward John Collins, who left Friday's game with a lower-back contusion in the first half and did not return. Collins had 16 points and eight rebounds when he left the game.
