NBA: Balanced Pacers rout Hawks in Collison return

Bojan Bogdanovic paced a balanced attack with 21 points and the Indiana Pacers routed the Atlanta Hawks 112-87 Friday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Myles Turner finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Victor Oladipo had 17 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Pacers, who bounced back from a 20-point blowout loss to Utah to win for the fourth time in the last five games. Indiana entered Friday's game tied with Washington for fifth place in the Eastern Conference.

The Pacers are getting healthy for the stretch run. Veteran point guard Darren Collison returned after missing the last 12 games recovering from knee surgery. Collison scored 17 points off the bench in 21 minutes.

The Pacers stormed out to a quick double-digit lead. Oladipo hit a jumper that put Indiana in front 27-12. Collison, Turner and Cory Joseph each made two 3-pointers to fuel a 34-point first quarter for the Pacers. Joseph finished with 18 points, one of five Pacers in double figures.

Indiana hit 14 3-pointers, shot 49.5 percent from the floor and outrebounded Atlanta 49-35.

Dennis Schroder scored 11 points in the first half, but the Hawks trailed 53-37 at halftime.

The Pacers poured it on in the third quarter, with Oladipo scoring 15 of his points, including a step-back 3-pointer that gave Indiana an 83-53 lead.

Rookie guard Tyler Dorsey was a bright spot for the Hawks, who have long been playing for next season. Dorsey scored a career-high 18 points to make his case to be a part of Atlanta's future.

Schroder finished with 15 points, and Mike Muscala added 12 points for the Hawks.

The Hawks return to Atlanta to open a three-game homestand, beginning with a Sunday matinee against Chicago. They will host Oklahoma City and Charlotte before embarking on a six-game road trip toward the end of the month before returning home to face Philadelphia on March 30.

Indiana now heads to Boston on Sunday and Philadelphia on Tuesday.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Young's clutch shot pushes Pacers past Wizards

INDIANAPOLIS -- Thaddeus Young's short jump shot with one second left on the clock lifted the Indiana Pacers to a 107-105 win over the Washington Wizards on Monday.

"I just made a play, that was the biggest thing," Young said of his jumper from 10 feet. "My teammates put me in a position to make that play by having a lot of guys on the court that could space the court out."

Washington's Bradley Beal missed a potential game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer in front of a crowd of 18,100 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse arena.

Paul George led the Pacers with 27 points and teammate Jeff Teague added 23. Myles Turner fouled out with 20 points and eight rebounds.

"They switched out and denied Paul," Pacers coach Nate McMillan said. "Thaddeus did what he was supposed to do and come to the ball. With four seconds to go you want to attack the basket. It was the right thing instead of just settling for the hero long jump shot.

"He put his head down and attacked the basket. It was an aggressive move by Thaddeus."

Beal, who hit both two free throws to narrow the Pacers' lead to 105-103 with 50 seconds left, had tied the score by hitting a jumper with 15 seconds left.

Marcin Gortat tallied 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Wizards (12-15). Teammate John Wall delivered 19 points.

Washington erased a deficit by scoring the first nine points of the fourth quarter to tie it 88-88. George's basket made it 90-88 and halted the Wizards' run.

Elsewhere, Dennis Schroder and Paul Millsap combined to score 61 points in leading the Atlanta Hawks to a 110-108 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Schroder scored 31 points on 10 of 16 shooting to go along with eight assists. Millsap poured in 30 points, 11 rebounds and hit three of five from beyond the arc.

Thabo Sefolosha added 15 points as the Hawks raised their record to 14-14.

Oklahoma City was led by Russell Westbrook, who had a game high 46 points. He also racked up 11 rebounds and seven assists.

In Minneapolis, the Minnesota Timberwolves held onto a late advantage to escape with a 115-108 win over the Phoenix Suns at the Target Center.

The win for the Timberwolves came two days after they let a 12-point lead slip away with just over two minutes to play against Houston. The Rockets eventually won that game in overtime.

On Monday, Wolves center Karl-Anthony Towns scored 28 points and grabbed 15 boards for his 18th double-double of the season -- and his eighth straight.

Canada's Andrew Wiggins had 26 points in the win, and Zach LaVine chipped in 23.

In Chicago, Rajon Rondo narrowly missed a triple-double with 10 points, 14 assists and eight rebounds, and the Chicago Bulls rolled to a 113-82 win over the Detroit Pistons.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Pacers beat Raptors 101-83 to force Game 7

When the Indiana Pacers are more than All-Star forward Paul George's prolific scoring, they usually are difficult to beat.

George had a game-best 21 points and 11 rebounds Friday, but the Pacers used smothering defense, solid rebounding and a dominating second half to defeat the Toronto Raptors 101-83 in Game 6, tying the best-of-seven series 3-3 and forcing Game 7 on Sunday in Toronto.

After leading 65-64 late in the third quarter, Indiana used a 32-5 run to increase its lead to 97-69 with 3:02 remaining.

Indiana limited the Raptors to 36.7 percent shooting, only 39 second-half points and outrebounded Toronto 44-40, also scoring 20 points as the result of 17 Raptors' turnovers.

"The Indiana Pacers have to beat the Raptors instead of just Paul George beating the Raptors," Indiana coach Frank Vogel said. "Our defense and our rebounding turned this game.

"We stayed with our big lineup to start the second half, and we executed our offense much better in the second half. We have to be able to hold a lead, and tonight we did that."

The Pacers scored the fourth quarter's first six points and led 77-64 with 10:38 remaining, prompting a Toronto timeout. The run became 12-0 for an 83-64 advantage. Indiana shot 64 percent from the field in the second half.

Rookie Myles Turner had 15 points and nine rebounds for Indiana, Monta Ellis scored 14 and George Hill and Ian Mahinmi each scored 12.

"Tonight was one of the most exciting games I've ever played in," Turner said of avoiding elimination. "I'm not ready for summer, and I'm not ready to go fishing."

Cory Joseph had 15 for Toronto, DeMarre Carroll also scored 15, Jonas Valanciunas contributed 14 points and nine rebounds and Kyle Lowry scored 10.

DeMar DeRozan struggled again for the Raptors, making 3 of 13 field goal attempts and scoring eight points. He is shooting 32 percent in the series.

"We couldn't score, and that really allowed them to get into transition," DeRozan said of Toronto's second-half meltdown. "The Pacers' team defense has been really tough the whole series, and George Hill especially has played good defense."

Indiana opened the third quarter with a 15-6 run, including 3-pointers for Ellis, Turner and George Hill, to lead 55-50 with 7:19 on the clock. The Pacers scored the third quarter's final six points to lead 71-64 through 36 minutes.

"Our offense just went down the drain in the third quarter," Lowry said. "But it's a seven-game series, and we have to stay after it. We know what is at stake in Game 7."

The Pacers outscored the Raptors 31-20 in the third quarter and outrebounded Toronto 12-5 in the period. Indiana was 10 of 15 from the field in the third quarter.

Solomon Hill came off the bench to sink three 3-pointers and also give the Pacers a defensive boost.

"We did a really good job collectively on the defensive end," Solomon Hill said. "We maintained that defensive tenacity throughout the entire game. Now we just have to go into Game 7 and leave everything out there on the floor."

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