NBA PLAYOFFS / EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS : Hawks Set Record for Stinginess

When Lenny Wilkens became Atlanta’s coach 11 months ago, he began teaching and preaching. The Hawks would play defense, he said. Defense gets you into the playoffs and wins for you once you are there.

Never was that more evident than on Thursday night, when the Hawks held the Indiana Pacers to the fewest points in NBA playoff history in a 92-69 victory that tied their Eastern Conference semifinal series, 1-1.

Danny Manning and Kevin Willis had 20 points each for the Hawks, who stopped Indiana’s winning streak at 12 games: the final eight of the regular season, a first-round sweep of Orlando and the series opener, Tuesday night.

“This was a huge turnaround for us after we were embarrassed the other night,” Wilkens said. “All year long our team has been responsive and resilient, and we certainly did not want to go to Indiana down, 0-2.”

The 69 points by the Pacers broke the league-low mark of 70, shared by Golden State against the Lakers in 1973 and Seattle against Houston in 1982.

Mookie Blaylock added 11 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds for the Hawks, the fourth triple-double of his career.

“We came in and took care of what we had to,” Willis said. “We need that type of effort the rest of the series. We’ve got a little confidence now, and if we can keep that up and keep the intensity up, we’re going to be OK.”

Said Jon Koncak: “I really felt after the game Tuesday that our focus would have to be on defense. It’s huge. We had a great defensive effort.”

Atlanta took a 61-42 lead midway through the third quarter, then withstood a Pacer comeback that closed the gap to 65-57 on Reggie Miller’s three-point basket with a second left in the period.

Miller scored 12 points and Derrick McKey 11 for Indiana.

“We were right there going to the fourth,” Indiana’s Haywoode Workman said.

Then they faded. The Pacers shot only 29.4% in the final quarter, when they had seven of their 17 turnovers.