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Harrington faces Hawks for first time since offseason trade

Dec 22, 2006 - 3:06 PM Indiana (14-13) at Atlanta (9-15) 7:30 pm EST

ATLANTA (Ticker) -- The Indiana Pacers are hoping Al Harrington can shake out of his recent slump against some familiar faces.

After averaging 18.6 points for the Atlanta Hawks last season, Harrington faces his former team for the first time since his return to the Pacers when the teams square off Friday.

Harrington spent his first six campaigns with Indiana before playing the last two with Atlanta. However, he was traded back to the Pacers for a future first-round pick on August 23 after the Hawks went 39-125 in his two seasons there.

In his last five games, Harrington is averaging just 9.6 points and is shooting 36 percent (20-of-55) from the floor, including a scoreless outing in 23 minutes against the Utah Jazz on Sunday.

Jermaine O'Neal scored 34 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Stephen Jackson added 25 points for Indiana, which won for the third time in four games with Wednesday's 101-93 triumph over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Coming off a pair of dismal seasons, the Hawks showed some early promise by winning four of their first five contests. However, they have dropped six of their last seven and are 3-8 in December.

Joe Johnson scored 27 points and Josh Smith added 23 with 12 rebounds for Atlanta, which failed to hold a 21-point fourth-quarter lead in Wednesday's 112-106 defeat to the Utah Jazz.

The Hawks won all four meetings against the Pacers last season, but are just 4-7 at home in 2006-2007.