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The Indiana Pacers are swimming in the deep end of the adversity pool as they take on the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night at Philips Arena.
Already struggling on the court without Danny Granger in the lineup, the blue and gold now have to figure out a way to survive in the long term without their leading scorer after news that Granger will be on the shelf for three more months surfaced on Wednesday.
For now, the Pacers have to lean on Sam Young and Gerald Green to fill the void, while the rest of the starting lineup must find a way to step up.
The Hawks expect to have dynamic forward Josh Smith back in the lineup against the Pacers after an ankle injury caused him to miss Atlanta's win over Oklahoma City in their last outing. The Hawks have a versatile playing rotation so their starting lineup is a bit of a crap shoot. In the last game sans Smith, the Hawks started both DeShawn Stevenson and Kyle Korver with Anthony Tolliver at power forward. That allowed Lou Williams and Devin Harris to come off the bench.
Suddenly the Hawks can come at you in waves. The Pacers will be tested tonight and need to step up their competitive spirit to bring the fight to the Hawks instead of the other way around. That would at least be a good start for the Pacers.
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