Preview: Hawks visit Pacers for post-Thanksgiving battle

Photo by Scott Cunningham/NBAE via Getty ImagesThe Atlanta Hawks played relatively well for 42 of 48 minutes on Wednesday in Milwaukee. It wasn’t enough to stop the bleeding of an extended losing streak, though, and Lloyd Pierce’s team will again try to pick up a badly need victory against the Indiana Pacers on Friday evening.

The good folks in Las Vegas install the Hawks as 10.5-point road underdogs in this game, illustrating the difficult nature of this particular match-up. Though Indiana hasn’t played a grueling schedule in the early going, the Pacers are seemingly rounding into form, winning four straight games and eight of their last ten contests. To make things even more challenging,…