Pacers quiet Jazz, continue success on end of back-to-backs
By CHRIS GOFF
ISL Correspondent
Playing basketball two nights in a row typically poses a challenge for even the most well-conditioned NBA athletes.
Not for the Indiana Pacers.
While the Utah Jazz appeared weary, Indiana improved to 6-2 on the second night of a back-to-back and routed the Jazz 104-84 Wednesday night. Paul George scored 20 points, his sixth time in the last nine games with at least that many, and George Hill added 20 of his own. Gerald Green led Indiana with a season-high 21.
The Pacers (14-12) led by as many as 32 and maintained at least a 20-point lead for the entire second half. Indiana rebounded from a 98-93 loss Tuesday at Central Division rival Milwaukee. Twenty-four hours later, the Pacers shot a season-best 51.4 percent from the field.
I like it, Pacers coach Frank Vogel said of Indiana’s success at the end of back-to-backs. Our guys are just focused every night. Coming into the season we wanted to be a contender and to do that you have to bring it harder and more often than every team in the league.
Utah flew in after a 92-90 win in Brooklyn Tuesday in which the Jazz fought back from a 13-point halftime deficit. The Jazz failed for a 10th consecutive time to follow a road win with a victory in its next away game.
Both of us playing back-to-back, I don’t think we can use that as an excuse, Jazz guard Gordon Hayward said. Give the Pacers credit. They took us out of what we wanted to do.
Ordinarily, Utah would get most of its offense from leading scorers Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson. But Indiana, which entered first in the league in allowing opponents just 35 points in the paint, held the Jazz to 28. Millsap and Jefferson, the big men largely responsible for Utah’s success in the paint the past two seasons, combined for just 11 points on 3-of-15 shooting.
We couldn’t get the shots we wanted, Utah coach Ty Corbin said. We only scored two points in the paint in the first half, when they outscored us 28-2. We are not a team that should be shooting a lot of jumpers. This is one of those games we just didn’t have it.
The Jazz (14-13) were led by 16 points from Derrick Favors. Mo Williams was the only starter in double figures with 11, although only two came after the first quarter.
Almost nothing went right for Utah after the opening period, when the Jazz were still within 31-23. The Jazz scored eight points in the second quarter, its worst quarter of the season. The Jazz scored three points in the first five minutes while Indiana scored eight, including six from George, to stretch the lead to 39-26.
Indiana went on to lead 53-31 at halftime. Only once this season had the Jazz trailed by that many. Hill scored 14 points on 5 for 8 shooting and George added 12 and eight rebounds. Jefferson and Millsap combined for three points on 1-of-11 shooting before intermission. Utah missed 31 of 44 field goal attempts in shooting just 29.5 percent in the first half.
The Pacers never faltered after that. Utah’s starting lineup scored 35 points, and only 15 after the opening quarter. Corbin mostly played reserves once it became clear Indiana wouldn’t let up.
When we share the ball and help each other, the sky’s the limit, Hill said. We were communicating, being in our gaps, making things tough. Sometimes on a back-to-back, we lose that first one, it gives us extra incentive to get over the hill. We were playing with a lot more energy after we gave (Milwaukee) an early Christmas present.
Perhaps the most exciting moment late in the game came when Green leaped from beyond the charge circle, took contact from a defender and soared high above the rim to finish a one-hand jam with 4:12 remaining. Green completed the three-point play as the crowd roared at his athletic exploits. Green had just his fourth outing in double figures since joining the Pacers.
They played last night just like we did, Green said. We felt whoever came out with more energy would do better. We’re hungry. We lost to Toronto the night after they lost in triple overtime. That really did something to us. We took them for granted, felt they were tired and were winded. They came out the total opposite. We took that as a lesson.
Utah shot 37.2 percent from the field and committed 18 turnovers. The Jazz only made 2 of 13 3-pointers, while the Pacers hit 9 of 16.
David West scored 13 and Roy Hibbert added 12 for the Pacers, including eight in the first quarter.
The Jazz led 11-6 nearly four minutes in as Marvin Williams hit a jumper. Indiana bounced back with a 15-3 run to take control and never relinquished its grip. Five different Pacers scored in the spurt, which was capped by a 3 from Green.
The Pacers are 8-3 at home and won its third straight at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Indiana begins a two-game road trip Friday at Cleveland.
