Take that, Lance!
The Pacers had no right to even be in the game after trailing 56-39 at he half, but they somehow scratched and clawed their way back into the game, taking the lead with a couple of David West free throws with 32 seconds left on the clock. Luis Scola extended the lead to 2 by splitting another pair of free throws 9 seconds later. Things were looking good until Marvin Williams drilled a huge three-pointer, putting the Pacers down by a point with 14 seconds to spare. The Pacers called timeout and got the ball to Hill, who drove baseline around the basket and found himself wide open underneath before converting the easy lay in with 4 seconds left. With no timeouts left, the Hornets had no chance to get a good shot off and the Pacers escaped with a thrilling come-from-behind win.
Hill didn’t have a particularly good game up to that point but finished with 11 points on 4-10 shooting to go with 3 assists in 27 minutes. It was his backup, CJ Watson, who led the way with 22 off the bench, but Luis Scola was arguably the MVP of the game with 15 points and 14 rebounds. David West and Rodney Stuckey had 15 apiece, while Hibbert had a quiet one (7 and 7) as he struggled to contain Al Jefferson, who had a monstrous 30 and 13.
Lance Stephenson, by the way, still came off the bench and finished with 8 points and 4 assists on 2-7 shooting from the field.
The victory gives the Pacers their first three-game winning streak of the season and puts them just 2 games out of the 8th and final playoff spot, currently held by idle Miami.
Stretching this win streak to 4 games will take a minor miracle, as the Pacers next head home for the second night of a back-to-back against the defending champs Spurs.
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