I honestly expected it to be closer. The Pacers felt like they could have had a letdown game against the Hawks in the second game of their first round series, but newly annointed MIP Paul George and the Pacers responded to the pressure by powering to a 113-98 victory.
George updated his career playoff high with a 27-point game on 11-21 shooting, and George Hill was deadly with 22 points. Gerald Green decided to become a key player off the bench and had 15 points on 6-11 shooting, including a sick dunk over Josh Smith. Not to be outdone, Roy Hibbert also posterized Ivan Johnson with a brutal and-one throwdown.
The only negative things to report were David West's foul-plagued 7-point night and Lance Stephenson's bruised hip.
But so far so good. The road gets much tougher for the Pacers in game 3 as they head to Atlanta, where they have not won in 11 straight encounters.
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