6 Biggest Takeaways From the Hawks' Win Over the Pacers

The Atlanta Hawks won at Indiana on Saturday without Nickeil Alexander-Walker, one of their projected starters, and with Luguentz Dort making his first appearance for the team. The Indiana Pacers played without Tyrese Haliburton and pulled their starters with 6:30 left in the third quarter, with Atlanta ahead 78-74.

Atlanta is 2-1 in the preseason after opening with a loss to Memphis and winning Thursday at San Antonio.

At halftime, Okongwu had six points on 1-of-4 shooting. He missed all three of his 3-point attempts in the first two quarters, and four free throws made up the rest.

He scored 12 points after the break. Okongwu went 4-of-6 in the second half and made two of his four 3-pointers.

Ivica Zubac started at center for Indiana and scored 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting. The Pacers got him from the Clippers at last season's trade deadline. Williams reported that Okongwu had gone against Zubac many times during his years in Los Angeles.

Dort's first basket as a Hawk came with 2:20 left in the first quarter, when Corey Kispert missed a driving layup and he tipped it in with a dunk. Later he hit a 3-pointer and made both of his free throws.

That added up to seven points on 2-of-7 shooting in 24 minutes. He also had six rebounds, two assists, and four fouls.

Williams wrote that Dort's physical defense "looked as advertised," with Dort picking up ball handlers full court.

Johnson did not play Thursday in San Antonio. By halftime Saturday, he had 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting, five rebounds, and two assists.

He scored 10 more in the second half on 3-of-4 shooting. Both of his 3-point attempts came after the break. Both went in.

Williams wrote that Johnson scored from the post and on drives and made rotations that cut off Indiana runs.

All 13 of Wiggins' points came in the first half. He had eight in the first quarter on two 3-pointers and two free throws.

Early in the second quarter, he scored on a layup and a 3-pointer 34 seconds apart. The 3-pointer put Atlanta up 38-34.

After halftime, Wiggins took one shot and missed it. He started Thursday's game at San Antonio and came off the bench Saturday.

From the moment Indiana pulled its starters, the Pacers outscored the Hawks 43-41 the rest of the way.

Zuby Ejiofor played all 12 of his minutes in the second half. He had four points, four rebounds, two steals, and a block, and he finished minus-8.

RayJ Dennis set up Ejiofor's dunk in the final half-minute. Indiana's last shot was a driving layup by Braden Smith with two seconds left. It missed, and Ejiofor grabbed the rebound.

Kingston Flemings scored eight points on 4-of-7 shooting and committed four fouls in 18 minutes. Two nights earlier in his hometown, he had 15 points, five assists, and three steals.

Atlanta went 28-of-30 at the line. Indiana missed eight of its 32 attempts.

The Hawks had 10 offensive rebounds, and the Pacers had zero.

Indiana made two more 3-pointers than Atlanta on 11 fewer attempts. The Pacers also had 31 assists to Atlanta's 24 and committed 17 turnovers to Atlanta's 14.

Atlanta hosts Oklahoma City, where Dort and Wiggins played last season, on Monday at 7 p.m. ET.