In a season finale dominated by matchups involving teams fighting for their playoff lives against teams willingly resting players, the Indiana Pacers took care of business against one such team in the Atlanta Hawks to finish the season on a high note, clinching their second straight playoff berth and sixth in the last seven seasons.
The Pacers used an 11-0 run into the second quarter to build a lead they’d hold throughout the rest of the game, but they were tasked with a lot of work in keeping it. The energy of the Hawks’ backups was on display against the touch-and-go effort of the Pacers.