The NBA playoffs standings has the Atlanta Hawks leading the Indiana Pacers 3-2 after the win in Game 5 on Monday night in Indianapolis and now they go home with the chance to win the series after taking the game 107-97 and now Jeff Teague and company are in position to upset the number one seed as the eighth seed in the eastern conference playoffs.
The Pacers are the number one seed in the east and they spoke all season about being the best team and how they should have won against the Heat last season, but they fell apart in the second half and now they are down 3-2 against the Hawks. The Game 5 winner wins the series over 80 percent of the time and now the Indiana Pacers have to come back. Shelvin Mack scored 20 points off the bench and he had some clutch free throws at the end to finish things off. The Hawks were 13 games under .500 on the road and now they have the chance to end the series at home.
Mike Scott was amazing in the second quarter and he hit three three-pointers in a row and the Hawks had a 20 points lead heading into halftime and they had a 30 point lead later in the game, but the Pacers closed it in the fourth quarter. The Hawks played great through most of the third before going cold and they had a double digit lead before the Pacers started pushing it down and they went on a 10-0 run the end of the quarter and that cut things into the fourth.
Check here for the playoffs standings and schedule.
The schedule for Monday starts with Miami and Charlotte before the Atlanta Hawks and Indiana Pacers play their series and that has Game 5 in Indy and that is crucial with the series now tied 2-2. The Hawks have played the number one seed very tough and they have a chance to get the lead back in the series. The San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks are the late game and now the Mavs have a 2-1 lead after Vince Carter hit that amazing shot in the game on Saturday. The Mavericks have the Spurs in a tough position and the Pacers have been battled hard by the Hawks and both number one seeds still are not guaranteed to make it to the next round.
The games on Tuesday could see another team advance, as the Wizards have a 3-1 lead over the Chicago Bulls in their series and can finish them off in the United Center. The Oklahoma City Thunder and Memphis Grizzlies are tied at 2-2 in the series and they play Game 5, while the Clippers and Warriors are also tied. Game 5 will have some weighted significance with the Donald Sterling issues and now the Clippers have even more pressure on them to win after losing the game on Sunday. The schedule on Wednesday has Game 5 of this series if necessary and that will be one of four potential games on the night and the Heat are the only ones that can close things out.
