Paul George leads Pacers past Blazers 99-92
By CHRIS GOFF
ISL Correspondent
INDIANAPOLIS – The ball rested on the edge of Paul George’s fingertips, nearly released at the height of his shooting motion, when at the last second he saw George Hill cut to the basket.
Two points for Hill. Easy. And yet another sign of George’s recent resurgence.
George had 22 points, a day after scoring 34, and Indiana defeated Portland 99-92 Wednesday night for its seventh win in 10 games. The Pacers (10-9) pulled above .500 for the first time since Nov. 3, when they won their home opener to move to 2-1.
Indiana allowed an 18-point fourth-quarter lead to be trimmed to four but held on despite seven turnovers in the final period. George’s creation, both for himself and his teammates, played a large role. His corner-of-the-eye find of a wide-open Hill pushed the Pacers ahead 93-86 with 4:11 remaining.
I saw the whole backside open, George said. I was real close (to shooting). I just found him. It goes back to being comfortable with my teammates.
George had five assists and eight rebounds and limited Portland counterpart Nic Batum to five points on 2-of-8 shooting. George altered his pregame routine, adding hundreds of practice shots on gamedays, after a scoreless outing Saturday at Golden State. He has since led the Pacers in scoring in wins over Chicago and the Trail Blazers. He has also finished with a team-high in assists in three of the last four games, a trend highlighted by the dish to Hill for the dunk.
He’s growing in a number of areas, Indiana coach Frank Vogel said. I asked him to be better with the basketball, to look for positive plays and find smart opportunities, and that play is indicative he’s growing in that regard.
Portland (8-11) lost its fifth game on a season-long seven-game road trip after winning its previous two in overtime. Damian Lillard, November’s Western Conference Rookie of the Month, scored 23 points and added six assists. Wesley Matthews contributed 19 and LaMarcus Aldridge had 18 points and 10 rebounds.
The Blazers were outrebounded 51-43 and missed 16 of 22 3-pointers. Indiana’s bench outscored Portland’s 31-13. The Blazers led 50-48 at halftime but fell behind by a large margin as Indiana dominated at the end of the third quarter and early in the fourth.
I don’t think the wheels came off, Lillard said. They made their run. We’re a resilient team.
George Hill scored 18 points and David West added 16, including 12 in the second half. Ian Mahinmi led the Pacers’ suddenly productive reserves with a season-high 12 points on 6-for-6 shooting.
Mahinmi and backup Tyler Hansbrough combined for 18 of Indiana’s 24 points in a stretch of nearly 11 minutes spanning the first and second quarters. During that time, the Pacers sliced an eight-point deficit to one.
Our bench gave us a big lift, Vogel said. Ian has learned from Roy Hibbert. A lot of guts and determination to get this win.
Lillard and Aldridge carried Portland in the first half. Lillard scored 14 points and Aldridge added 10 and had seven rebounds. Portland shot 19 for 23 (44.2 percent) and committed only four turnovers while forcing seven.
But Hill scored 12 points in the half, making 3 of 4 3s to keep Indiana close. His shot from downtown put the Pacers ahead 48-44 before Portland finished on a 6-0 run capped by J.J. Hickson’s putback at the buzzer. There were six ties and three lead changes in the first half.
Hickson finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Portland coach Terry Stotts said the Blazers didn’t react well to the Pacers’ defensive aggressiveness. The Blazers shot 34 of 79 (.430).
Toward the end we made some nice passes when they came to the penetration, Stotts said. We probably should have recognized that a little sooner. They’re a quality defensive team.
Indiana opened up the game in the third quarter, using a 7-2 run to pull ahead 79-64 as Portland missed 12 of 19 shots in the period. George led the way with nine points. West scored eight points in the quarter after scoring just four points and taking only two shots in the first half.
We’re taking the shots that are there, West said. We spread the ball around. You’re not going to force things. We’ve got to continue to work. We can’t feel like we’ve accomplished anything.
The Blazers scored 11 straight in a little more than 2 minutes, part of a larger 17-3 spurt in which Matthews had 11, to close within 85-81. Portland later inbounded the ball trailing 95-90 with 29.3 seconds left. Damian Lillard immediately missed a 3 and West rebounded. George Hill made two free throws to put the game away.
George scored 14 in the second half and shot 7 for 15, including 4 for 9 from 3. His free throws with 11 seconds left closed the scoring.
We have to continue to play together and see what happens, he said. I am not doing anything different. All is kicking in the last couple nights, and I just hope I can continue this.
