First Thoughts: Pacers 99, Bobcats 94
By CHRIS GOFF
ISL Assistant Editor
First thoughts after the Indiana Pacers squeaked by the Charlotte Bobcats 99-94 on Friday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse:
IN A NUTSHELL: Roy Hibbert had 18 points and 11 rebounds and Lance Stephenson produced 20 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in another fine all-around performance. Surprisingly, Indiana was drawn into a shootout with the offensively challenged Bobcats after the two teams played an unwatchable slugfest in the Queen City last month. David West scored 14 points with eight rebounds for the Pacers while a quiet Paul George was held to 10 points and five assists. Charlotte scored 55 points in the first half and 21 more in the third quarter, when Indiana usually pulls away. That wasn’t the case tonight as the game went all the way down to the end. Al Jefferson led the Bobcats with 21 points (plus nine boards), Kemba Walker had 13 with five boards and Ramon Sessions contributed 13 points off the bench. Each team shot 47 percent from the field, but the Pacers made 19 free throws to Charlotte’s 12 and outscored the Bobcats 24-12 from behind the 3-point arc.
KEY SEQUENCE: After Josh McRoberts missed a clean look at a 3 that would have given Charlotte a four-point lead with 4 1/2 to play, Stephenson came down and shook Ben Gordon at the other end. A series of moves cleared Stephenson for a baseline drive and his three-point play put Indiana ahead 92-90. West hit a pair of free throws before Gerald Henderson hit a jumper. West then scored again to restore the four-point lead with 2:29 remaining. Jefferson answered with another bucket before Hibbert unwisely launched and missed from the top of the key. After the teams traded stops, Jefferson’s shot in the lane — which would have tied the game with 20 seconds left — was blocked by Hibbert. Two free throws by George Hill iced the game.
BEST OF THE REST: Charlotte played without starting small forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and backup center Brendan Haywood. … The Pacers have won 10 straight home games against Charlotte. … Rasual Butler replaced struggling Orlando Johnson in Indiana’s second unit. Butler finished with eight points in 24 minutes, a surprising amount of playing time. … The sellout crowd was Indiana’s sixth of the season. … The Pacers improved to 18-0 when leading after three quarters.
WHAT WE LEARNED: Indiana seemed a bit disinterested in the beginning and the defense struggled for long stretches, but Charlotte lacked the horses to finish an upset, faltering late in the third quarter after taking their second six-point lead of the night. The Pacers were clearly the better team down the stretch in what was really just their second close, crunch-time game of the season. The other happened at the Staples Center against the Clippers. The Pacers now take two more days off before hosting Detroit on Monday night. Then the blue and gold travel back to Miami on Wednesday for the first time since losing Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals there in June.
