Jeff Teague hit a jumper with 3:16 left in the fourth quarter to give the Atlanta Hawks a 74-69 lead over the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night. The shot gave Teague, who glared over at the Pacers heading into the timeout, 29 points and seemed to put a bow on a surprising series.

Coming out of the timeout, George Hill, Lance Stephenson, Paul George, David West and Ian Mahinmi walked onto the floor with the season slipping away. Forget about another lengthy playoff run, forget about a chance at redemption against the Miami Heat, the Pacers were less than four minutes away from losing Game 6 at Philips Arena and joining the short list of No. 1 seeds that have been upended by their eighth-seeded opponents.

It remains to be seen if the Pacers have finally woken up from a two-month slumber, but something significant changed after Teague drained that jumper. To put it simply, West decided that this team would live to play at least one more game.

The Pacers went on a 16-4 run over the final 3:16, an amazing run with an offensive explosion and strong defensive stand, en route to a 95-88 win.

West had eight points over the stretch, making three of his four shots and both his free throws. The veteran hasn't had the best series -- he had a combined 16 points and 10 rebounds in the first two games -- but took the game over when his teammates needed him most. He finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and two steals. He attempted a team-high 20 shots.

A few ill-advised jumpers aside, George, who will turn 24 years old between games, was excellent as well. He had 24 points and eight rebounds on 7-for-18 shooting.  He made four straight foul shots in the final 33.8 seconds to seal the victory.

After Teague's jumper, the Hawks went 1-for-6 from the field and committed two turnovers. The Pacers punched back, no pun intended after the second-quarter scuffle between Hill and Mike Scott, and the Hawks were unable to answer.

With Game 7 looming at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Saturday, there isn't an outcome that doesn't seem conceivable.

Vogel Adjusts … Sort Of

Frank Vogel finally coached to his opponent in the win ... to a degree. Vogel pulled Roy Hibbert, who has had a historically bad postseason, with 5:26 left in the first quarter. Chris Copeland and C.J. Watson were the first players off the bench, while Evan Turner never played and Luis Scola was only active for the final 12.4 seconds.

The Hawks led 14-5 when Hibbert went to the bench and Indiana was 2-for-9 from the floor with two turnovers. The two-time All-Star remained on the sidelines for the remainder of the half and the Pacers responded accordingly. They led (44-39) at halftime for the first time in the series and shot 15-for-27 (55.6%) over the final 17-plus minutes. The offensive spacing improved immediately with the smaller lineup, essentially Copeland for Hibbert, leading to better looks for George and others. Copeland wasn't a revelation (five points, three rebounds, three fouls and three turnovers in 18:28) but his presence on the floor changed how Atlanta defended. 

Vogel seemed to concede that Hibbert simply wasn't the best option when he sent Mahinmi out to begin the third quarter, but then Mike Scott happened.

Scott, who was on fire from deep in Game 5 and shoved Hill in the face in the second quarter, posterized Mahinmi at the 3:22 mark of the third. The slam sent the Hawks off on a 9-2 run that tied the game at 61 less than two minutes later. The combination of Scott's rim-rattling dunk and Mahinmi picking up his fourth foul led Vogel to send Hibbert back out.

The Hawks proceeded to score the final four points of the quarter, grabbing a three-point lead. Hibbert Time over, right? Nope. He played another five minutes, blocking a shot and collecting two rebounds, but also embarrassing himself by getting spun around by Teague and fronted defensively by Lou Williams. It wasn't his fault, but Hibbert's teammates also struggled to even get him the ball in the post. Atlanta led 74-73 when Copeland replaced Hibbert for the final time with 7:01 left in the game.

The clubs then traded baskets before Teague made shots on back-to-back possessions, bringing us to the point at which West took the game over with 3:16 left.

Hibbert finished -12 in a seven-point win. He actually played 12 more seconds than he did in Indiana's Game 5 loss. I'm fine with Vogel ceremoniously starting Hibbert and trotting him out for a few minutes, but he flirted with disaster in the fourth quarter. He'll have to be more careful on Saturday in Game 7.

Strong Fourth Quarter

The first eight-plus minutes weren't all that impressive, but the Pacers matched their best offensive quarter of the series in the fourth. They scored 31 points, equaled only by the third quarter of Game 2 when they went on a run that also ultimately decided the game.

Here is a snapshot of the numbers Indiana enjoyed in the two quarters:

April 22, Third Quarter, Game 2: 12/16 FGs, 5/5 FTs, 4 TOs, 1.396 points per poss.

May 1, Fourth Quarter, Game 6: 9/18 FGs, 12/12 FTs, 3 TOs, 1.332 points per poss.