NBA Playoff Schedule 2016: Tuesday TV Guide, Live Stream Info and Picks
A pair of competitive, dead-heat series are on the slate for Tuesday's 2016 NBA playoff action.
The Indiana Pacers and Toronto Raptors are knotted up at two games apiece in a series that has been nothing but haymakers, with each game won by a double-digit point margin.
The Pacers won Game 4 100-83, but they must head out on the road again and hope they can steal another game in the Queen City.
After dropping the first two games, the Boston Celtics have tied up their series with the Atlanta Hawks with a pair of thrilling home wins.
Point guard Isaiah Thomas is the player of the moment in this postseason, with 73 points combined in his last two games. Atlanta is out of sorts on offense, but the comforts of home could get the team back on track.
Here's the TV and live stream info for Tuesday:
| 6 p.m. | Indiana Pacers | Toronto Raptors | TNT | TNT Overtime | IND 2-2 TOR | Raptors |
| 8:30 p.m. | Boston Celtics | Atlanta Hawks | TNT | TNT Overtime | BOS 2-2 ATL | Hawks |
Hawks Look to Bounce Back in Game 5
Celtics head coach Brad Stevens needed to find a way to stop Hawks power forward Paul Millsap in Game 4. The Hawks as a team were well on their way to a dismal 37 percent shooting from the floor, but the crafty Millsap was creating havoc and making most of his buckets. Stevens' fourth-quarter decision to put the undersized Marcus Smart on Millsap, while a bit unorthodox, helped Boston pull out the win in overtime.
"My teammates were very supportive about that, just telling me, 'You can guard him. Just stay down and force him into our help, and just play with your hands back,'" said Smart, per the Boston Globe's Adam Himmelsbach.
Millsap finished with 45 points on Sunday night, but the Hawks can only go to that well so often, and the Celtics might have found a way to keep him quiet with Smart guarding him in a small-ball lineup.
FoxSports.com's Michael Pina believes the Celtics need to stick to the smaller lineups until that strategy stops working:
"There’s a good chance the Hawks go away from that matchup if/when it presents itself again, and when that happens the Celtics need to hope Al Horford’s groin is still taking its sweet time to heal:
Atlanta still has a more talented team, and on paper it should bludgeon Boston on the glass and in the post. But health has suddenly become a big factor on both sides, and the Hawks have yet to find an answer whenever the Celtics go uber-small.
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Atlanta head coach Mike Budenholzer might have a few adjustments to make for Game 5, but what he really needs is for his players to execute and hit the open shots.
Kent Bazemore shot 2-of-10 from the floor in Game 4, while Jeff Teague missed 14 shots and flubbed the team's final possession in regulation. Dennis Schroder, a 42.1 percent field-goal shooter during the regular season, is shooting 35.9 percent from the floor in this series and has made just one three-pointer.
Kyle Korver is the only one who is consistently threatening from distance, having made 13 of 25 three-pointers since missing all seven of his shots from downtown in Game 1.
Peachtree Hoops' Brad Rowland notes the Hawks can't even make the easy looks:
"As a team (including Millsap, Korver, etc.), the Hawks simply haven't been able to make shots when favorable opportunities have been presented. According to NBA.com, Atlanta has converted just 29.3% of their "wide open" shot attempts (with a defender more than 6 feet away) in the series, and that number actually dropped to a comical 25% rate in Game 4. For reference, the Hawks ranked near the bottom of the league at 41.4% in the regular season.
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Those numbers are putrid, but they don't need to get that much better for Atlanta to put pressure on Boston's perimeter defenders. If Atlanta can get the likes of Teague, Schroder and Thabo Sefolosha going outside, Stevens will likely be forced to keep Smart defending on the perimeter.
Forcing defenders to play the shot instead of picking up the screens or playing the passing lanes inside could keep things open for Millsap and Al Horford down low.
When the Celtics last played in Atlanta, they managed just 72 points. Even though the team has seen vastly improved play from Thomas, it hasn't established a reliable second option on offense in this series. Jonas Jerebko, Amir Johnson and others have all taken turns stepping up, but Atlanta's length and discipline on defense have proved troublesome, save for Thomas.
A minor uptick in shooting is all Atlanta needs to best the Celtics. After all, the Hawks played a poor game Sunday but managed to take it to overtime. If Thomas comes back down to Earth even a little bit, the Hawks should be able to take Game 5 before heading back to Boston for a crucial Game 6.
Prediction: Hawks 97, Celtics 91
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