Hawks 119-117 Pacers: Jalen Johnson keeps delivering, and 93.3% at the line makes the shots that didn't fall not matter

Jalen Johnson kept doing what he did all camp: be the guy who makes the big shot look easy. The Hawks were ice-cold from three for a full 48 minutes in Indianapolis and won anyway, 119-117, because Johnson went 8-of-12 for 20 and the whole team lived at the free-throw line — 28-of-30. That's a 2-1 preseason and a 2-0 mark on the road, and it's the kind of night that tells you exactly who this rebuild leans on when the jumpers aren't falling.

Johnson is the closer, and it's not close anymore

The NBA.com photo caption on this game didn't overthink it: "Johnson delivers for ATL." Twenty points on 12 shots, seven rebounds, three assists, and the late fadeaways and pull-up jumpers that sealed it. When the Hawks needed a bucket in a one-possession fourth quarter, it went through the 24-year-old, and he answered each time. Preseason or not, that's the pecking order establishing itself.

The shots that didn't fall forced the plan that won

Here's the honest box-score read: Atlanta shot 13-of-45 from three, 28.9 percent, which should lose most nights. It didn't, because the Hawks shrugged and took 30 free throws instead, converting 28 — 93.3 percent. Pair that with outrebounding Indiana 49-35 and you've got a win that lived in the paint and at the stripe when the perimeter game went quiet. That's not luck; that's a team that found its edge the second the outside shot abandoned it.

The lineup caveat is real on both benches

Correction time, because this one comes with an asterisk. Indiana sat Tyrese Haliburton, T.J. McConnell and Johnny Furphy — coach's decision — so this was a Siakam-and-Zubac lineup, not the Pacers at full strength. The Hawks answered by resting Dorian Finney-Smith, Keshon Gilbert and Nickeil Alexander-Walker of their own. Tuesday's meeting with Oklahoma City won't have that excuse written as large, and it's the payoff for the young guys.

The young rotation took the minutes and stayed afloat

With DFS and company out, the floor got real minutes and held. Kingston Flemings added eight more in 18 minutes and didn't look like a rookie riding the wave. Asa Newell packed in eight points, three boards and two blocks. Aaron Wiggins gave the second unit eight on 3-of-6 from deep. Onyeka Okongwu chipped 18 and C.J. McCollum was a perfect 7-of-7 at the line for 12. Nothing fancy, but it's the depth showing a pulse on the road.

Bird Gang bottom line

Nobody's building a case on an early-October win over a rested Pacers team. The read that matters: when the three-ball abandoned them, the Hawks had a second way to score, and the guy they'll ride all winter closed the thing out. They're 2-1 with a road-heavy preseason, and the last tune-up before the real season gets here Monday night when Oklahoma City visits State Farm Arena — then it's Orlando for real on Oct. 21.

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