League Pass Feature Matchup: Indiana Pacers vs. Atlanta Hawks

The Indiana Pacers (35-25) aim for their third straight win as they take on the Atlanta Hawks (28-34) on Thursday night (7:30 ET, League Pass). The Pacers narrowly defeated the Hawks 132-127 in their previous meeting at home on Feb. 1.

Here are five things to know before this Eastern Conference tilt: 

After starting the 2024-25 season at 9-14 through the first 23 games, the Pacers have been one of the best teams in the NBA over the last three months. Their 26-11 record since Dec. 6 is tied for fifth with Detroit and New York during that stretch, helping Indiana to the No. 5 seed and the exact same record as Central Division foe Milwaukee (35-25), which currently sits fourth in the top-heavy Eastern Conference. The Pacers are 6-2 in their last eight contests, notching important wins over playoff-caliber teams out West in the Memphis Grizzlies, LA Clippers and Houston Rockets. 

Haliburton is finding his rhythm as we approach the final month of the NBA regular season. In his last eight outings, the fifth-year guard is averaging 23.4 points, 11.4 assists, 2.4 steals and only 1.3 turnovers a night, with shooting splits of 57.6 FG%/54.0 3P%/100.0 FT% in 33.8 minutes. He’s recorded six straight double-doubles by dishing out 10-plus dimes in each game, dropping 15 assists in two of them.

Much like Haliburton, Turner has started to turn it on for Indiana’s stretch run as they fight for the No. 4 seed and home-court advantage for the first round of the playoffs. He returned from a three-game absence against Memphis on Feb. 20, playing 33 minutes and racking up 17 points, 10 rebounds and a season-high 7 blocks. In his last seven appearances, the center out of Texas has put up 18.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 2.4 blocks while drilling 44.6% of his 8.0 3-point attempts per game. Turner’s plus-15.6 plus-minus rating is the third-best figure in the league over this period. 

LeVert has been a bright spot off the Atlanta bench since coming over from Cleveland. In ten games with the Hawks, he’s popped for 16.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.1 steals in 28.3 minutes. LeVert has been even better in his last three outings, going for 23.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals in almost 30 minutes, including this

unreal game-winner

with the help of teammate Dyson Daniels. He hit the 20-point mark in each of those games, doing so for the first time this season. 

Now in his fifth year with the Hawks, Okongwu is coming off one of the best months in his career. In 12 February games, he finished with averages of 15.3 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.0 blocks and 0.7 steals in 30.6 minutes, which included a career-high 30 points in 31 minutes in a loss against San Antonio on Feb. 5. Atlanta needs his increased production as they fight to remain in the SoFi Play-In Tournament, where they currently hold the ninth spot in the East.