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ATLANTA (AP) — Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer wasn't terribly concerned that his team gave up 19 offensive rebounds.
Not when Atlanta held on for a third straight win.
"Obviously we'd like to be better, but I think just because you give up a rebound doesn't mean automatically they're going to score two points," he said. "Overall, our defense is a lot of times what's giving us a chance."
Paul Millsap scored 24 points, Al Horford added 21 points and the Hawks beat the Indiana Pacers 102-96 on Friday night.
Paul George finished with 31 points for Indiana, which has lost 17 of its last 19 regular-season matchups in Atlanta. Lavoy Allen added 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
The Pacers missed their first six shots of the fourth quarter before C.J. Miles' runner cut the lead to 78-74 with 8 minutes remaining.
George's 3 with 4:49 left gave Indiana its last lead at 86-84. He hit another 3 with 1:02 left, falling back and heaving the ball over his right shoulder for a 35-footer that brought the Pacers within two.
But Jeff Teague's jumper and Kent Bazemore's two free throws pushed the lead to six with 22 seconds left. Teague had 16 points. Bazemore had 15 points and tied for a game-high eight assists.
Neither team led by more than six until the closing seconds. The lead changed hands 12 times.
It was a particularly frustrating night for Indiana, which out-rebounded the Hawks 53-32 and outscored them on second-chance points.
"Our bigs did a great job of rebounding," George said. "It's hard to make plays when they're getting whacked all day at the rebounding, but it's another game that we should have had — one that we didn't do so late in the game and put it away."
Horford had two consecutive dunks to push Atlanta back in front 73-72 in the last minute of the third. Dennis Schroder hit a 3 to make it a four-point lead early in the fourth.
"I think guys were pretty excited about the dunk(s)," Horford said. "I felt like that defensively fueled us going into the fourth."
Millsap, at 6-foot-8, and the 6-10 Horford caused problems for Indiana's big men all night on the perimeter with their passing skills and athleticism. They helped the Hawks outscore Indiana by four points in the paint.
"We did some good things but we didn't handle their pressure well enough offensively," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "They got some very, very difficult coverages with Horford and Millsap out there spacing the floor we didn't handle well enough either."
The Hawks stayed in third place in the Eastern Conference with a 30-22 record. Indiana, at 26-24, fell to eighth place.
TIP-INS
Pacers: Indiana has dropped six of its last eight on the road. ... George has scored at least 30 points in 15 of his 50 games. ... G Monta Ellis, who averaged 20.5 points in the previous four games, scored 11.
Hawks: Atlanta has won nine of its last 11 at home. ... The Hawks improved to 25-3 when scoring at least 100 points. ... Led by Schroder's nine points, the bench scored 20 — 60 less than the reserves combined for in Wednesday's win at Philadelphia, the team's highest total since 1987-88.
UP NEXT
Pacers: Host Detroit on Saturday night.
Hawks: Visit Orlando on Sunday.
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