Pacers beat Thunder for seventh straight win
By TYLER SMITH (@TylerSmith_ISL)
ISL Editor
(Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS — The Pacers entered a critical stretch of their schedule on Monday night, and they passed their first test. After trailing by double-digits in the first half, the Pacers came from behind to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder 93-90 for their seventh straight win.
On a night when the shots weren’t falling, the defense stepped up in a major way. Indiana shot just 7-of-27 in the first quarter, and just 30% in the first half. But the roles reversed in the third quarter, with the Pacers holding the Thunder to 7-of-24. In the end, it was Paul George making more big plays than Russell Westbrook to give the home team the victory.
“This is probably the poorest we’ve shot the ball all year, and we still beat a really good team,” Paul George said. “We’re pretty happy with where we’re at. We’re happy about this win.”
Nate McMillan has seen his team make several comebacks at Bankers Life Fieldhouse this season, where the Pacers improved to 20-6. “I thought the first half was a wake-up call for us,” McMillan said. “In the second half, we started to play like we are capable of playing.”
Thunder Coach Billy Donovan agreed. “Credit Indiana for taking it up another level in the second half,” he said, “We’ve got to do a better job of anticipating that a good home team will do that.”
In the last two games, the Pacers have held opponents to 22-of-73 (30%) from the floor in the second half, and have outscored them by 37 points.
“We just started playing faster in the second half,” said Pacers point guard Jeff Teague. “They’re going to play physical. We needed to match that. In the second half, we did. We got stops and converted. Simple basketball.”
Russell Westbrook had his typical numbers (27 points, 18 rebounds, nine assists), but he missed his last three 3-point attempts late in the game, and only shot 10-for-27 overall.
Glenn Robinson III gave the Pacers a huge boost off the bench on a night they desperately needed it. He scored 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting, and was a plus+13 on the night.
It was the first time the Pacers have swept the season series with Oklahoma City since the 2008-2009 season.
Things looked pretty bleak for the Pacers earlier this season. They were just 15-18 in their first 33 games. Since then, the Pacers have gone 14-4 and have climbed to within one game of the No.-4 seed in the Eastern Conference. They’ll look to keep their winning streak alive against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers Wednesday night at Bankers Life.
