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Hawks and Pacers meet at Conseco Fieldhouse

Apr 8, 2011 - 3:04 PM (Sports Network) - A pair of playoff-bound teams from the East collide this evening in the Hoosier State, as the Indiana Pacers are slated to host the Atlanta Hawks at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Indiana is eighth in the conference standings and Atlanta is nestled in at the No. 5 spot. The Hawks are aiming to sweep the season series from the Pacers for a second straight year and have won the first three meetings in 2010-11 and nine straight overall. Indiana, however, is 15-5 in the past 20 matchups as the host in this series.

The Pacers have won four of five games and kicked off a three-game homestand with Wednesday's 136-112 pounding of the Washington Wizards. Danny Granger scored 25 points and rookie Paul George posted 23 for the Pacers, who pushed their home mark to 23-16. Roy Hibbert had 16 points, while Darren Collison and Tyler Hansbrough registered 15 apiece.

"This is amazing for me," George said of reaching the postseason. "I knew we could do it if we stuck together."

Indiana will also welcome New York to Conseco Fieldhouse and has won four in a row as the host.

Atlanta will commence a quick two-game road swing through Indiana and Washington tonight, and is 20-18 away from Dixie this season.

The Hawks have lost two in a row since a four-game winning streak and are coming off Tuesday's 97-90 home loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Joe Johnson paced the Hawks with 21 points, while Jamal Crawford scored 20 in a reserve role and Kirk Hinrich finished with 13 points.

"I think the Spurs picked up the tempo a little bit (in the fourth quarter), and I think they took us out of some things we wanted to run," said Hawks forward Al Horford, who had 12 points, nine rebounds and five assists. "We did miss some open looks but you have got to give them credit because they played great."

Atlanta played without forward Josh Smith, who sat with a sore right knee. Smith is questionable for tonight's game and is averaging 16.7 points and 8.7 rebounds this season.