Pacers stay hot, rout Knicks
By TYLER SMITH
ISL Editor
(Photo by Pacers Sports and Entertainment)
INDIANAPOLIS — This one didn’t quite have the Reggie Miller vs. Patrick Ewing flair to it. But at this point in the season, the Pacers aren’t complaining. In the midst of a playoff race, the Pacers are trying to rack up wins. In the last 11 games, they’ve done plenty of that. They took care of the New York Knicks from start to finish on Wednesday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, winning by a final score of 105-82, for their ninth win in their last 11 games.
Pacers coach Frank Vogel decided to give center Roy Hibbert the night off for rest, and he couldn’t have picked a better game for that decision. Hibbert’s teammates made sure he could truly relax with the game never in doubt. “It’s my job to keep everybody fresh,” Vogel said. “This was kind of a two-part decision because we believe in Lavoy Allen and want to get all of our bigs some time.”
This season, the Pacers have been the definition of streaky. From opening night until now, the Pacers have gone 1-6, 6-3, 1-10, 7-4, 2-9, and now 9-2. The one constant they’ve had is winning games with George Hill healthy. He led the Pacers once again on Wednesday night with 21 points and six assists in 27 minutes of action. The Pacers improved to 14-7 in games that Hill has played in this year.
Rodney Stuckey continued to play well off the bench. He scored 13 points in the second quarter alone, and finished with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Vogel had high praise for Stuckey after the win: “He’s playing out of his mind right now. I think he likes coming off the bench for us. His skill set really fits that second unit.” His teammate Ian Mahinmi agreed: “Rodney is always, always, always in attack mode. Personally, I love playing with him.” Stuckey is averaging 18.8 points per game since the All-Star Break.
C.J. Miles scored 16 points, and David West added 13. For the game, the Pacers shot 48% from the field, and 46% from behind the arc. They have now scored 100 points or more in nine of their last 15 games, winning all nine of those games.
With their fourth straight home win, the Pacers are back above .500 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse this season (15-14). They currently lead the NBA in most consecutive seasons with a winning record at home (25) and would love to keep that streak alive.
Though the Pacers have played great basketball of late, the other teams in the playoff race are heating up as well. “There are six teams fighting for those last two playoff spots,” Frank Vogel said. “We’ve just got to get in. Get in, and anything can happen. We just have to keep winning. That’s the bottom line. We know we have a lot of work to do.”
Follow Tyler on Twitter: @TylerSmith_ISL
