The end of the first half had me wondering whether the Pacers were destined to lose tonight's game against the 76ers. David West scores on a tip in to give the Pacers a 4-point lead with about 4 seconds to go. Off the inbound, Paul George goes for the steal and commits a foul with the Pacers over the limit. Two free throws later, David West gets his inbound pass intercepted, leading to a layup. Game tied. Another full court pass goes out of bounds. Spencer Hawes gets the inbound pass from the baseline and swishes a turnaround at the buzzer over Roy Hibbert. Pacers go from leading by 4 to be down by 2 at the half.
Fortunately, they put that debacle behind them and came out with a strong third quarter (29-22) and then held off the 76ers in the fourth to win 95-85, moving them a game over 0.500 again at 12-11.
Are things finally coming together for the Indiana Pacers? Every time I say something like thay, the Pacers go on a skid, so for now I'll say the question is still up in the air. Tomorrow's game against the Pistons in Detroit will give the Pacers another chance to score their first three-game winning streak of the season, so let's see if they take advantage or disappoint again.
But for now, the Pacers should be feeling pretty good about themselves after a strong effort against the 76ers that saw three strong performances. Paul George continued his scoring spree by putting up a game-high 28 points to go with 6 rebounds and 3 blocks in yet another tremendous effort. Is six good games in a row sufficient to be regarded as consistent? Maybe not, but George is starting to look pretty comfortable out there.
Secondly, Roy Hibbert had his best game of the season with 19 points, 13 rebounds and 3 assists. Most of all, he shot 9-16 from the field! Granted, he was playing against Kwame Brown, but anything over 35% shooting is pretty good for Roy these days.
Lastly, George Hill landed his first career triple-double with 15 and a pair of 10s. He shot 6-13, and that's better than how he has been doing in most games recently.
Funnily enough, it was David the Beast West that struggled the most by shooting 5-17 from the field, even though he did finish with 14 and 6. It was just an off night for him and I'm sure he'll bounce back tomorrow.
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