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The Indiana Pacers, despite appearances, are making a serious push towards the coveted 8th and final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference; their hero in their quest has been Mike Dunleavy.? In Tuesday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks, Dunleavy came up big once again, leading Indiana to a much-needed 112-98 win over Atlanta at a sparsely attended (only 10,876 showed up) game at Conseco Fieldhouse.? The Pacers’ victory put them just two games behind Atlanta for the final playoff berth; the Pacers also hold the tie-breaker against the Hawks by winning 2 of their 3 games.

Indiana held a 67-52 lead at halftime and Atlanta seemed to have lost their composure in the third quarter; Josh Smith was called for a technical and a flagrant foul 2 seconds apart.? As a result, the Pacers led by 93-72 at the end of the period after leading by as many as 29 points; but the Hawks would make a push to start the fourth quarter.? A 3-pointer by Salim Stoudemire cut the Pacers’ lead to 95-81 and a layup by Smith reduced the Pacers’ lead further to 95-85 with 5 minutes remaining; Atlanta would yet again cut into Indiana’s lead with a jumper by Joe Johnson, but Indiana responded with a 10-2 run that basically iced the game.

Indiana was led by the aforementioned Dunleavy with 28 points, including 4three-pointers, 6 rebounds and?an assist while Ronald Murray scored 20 with 3 rebounds and 10 assists; Danny Granger added 16 with 8 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and 2 blocks while Marquis Daniels, from off the bench, chipped in with 15, along with 4 rebounds, a steal and a block.? Atlanta was led by Johnson with 30 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a block while Smith scored 25 with 13 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and a block.? Josh Childress added 16 from off the bench, along with 12 rebounds and a block.? Indiana (34-44) hope to keep the playoff push alive as they fly east to Philadelphia to face the 76ers on Friday while Atlanta (36-42) also travels east to take on the New York Knicks – also on Friday.?

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