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Game Rewind: Pacers 111, Clippers 102

Game Recap

The Indiana Pacers got two of their key players back Sunday night, and as they did last Sunday, Indiana (10-10) knocked off the the Los Angeles Clippers (16-6) in the Staples Center, 111-102. After being out for three and six games respectively, Paul George and C.J Miles returned to action for Indiana and helped the Pacers earn an important road victory.

George and the Pacers' offense had trouble finding its footing the early going. The home team got off to a great start, racing out to a 9-0 lead. Indiana trailed 16-8 at the halfway point of the quarter and 28-17 when the period had come to an end.

All told, the Pacers shot just 7-of-22 (31.8 percent) from the floor in the opening quarter.

In the second period, Indiana's bench got it back in the game. Rodney Stuckey scored six in the period (10 total in the half) to help cut the lead down to five, 32-27.

Later in the quarter, a George 3-pointer got the Pacers within two. On the next possession, following a Clippers bucket, Monta Ellis' three-point play made LA’s lead just one.

At the 3:21 mark, Jeff Teague nailed a wide-open triple to give Indiana its first lead of the game, 41-40. A Myles Turner free throw gave the Pacers a two-point advantage, but from there, the Clippers outscored Indiana 12-6 to take a 52-48 lead into halftime.

The third quarter belonged to Indiana. The visitors scored the quarter's first 11 points to take a 59-52 lead. But the offensive bombardment didn't stop there. After a pair of Griffin free throws, the Pacers scored eight straight before Griffin answered with a pair of layups. At the halfway mark in the period, Indiana led, 67-58.

Indiana closed the quarter with a 9-3 run to lead by 14, 83-69, heading into the final quarter.

Indiana's onslaught continued into the fourth period. In the first two minutes of the quarter, the Pacers outscored the Clippers 8-2, growing their lead to 20.

The Clippers, though, did not go down quietly. A pair of DeAndre Jordan free throws cut the lead to 10 with 5:41 to play and seemed to give LA the momentum it was looking for.

With 3:25 to play, Indiana's lead had been trimmed to five, but Jeff Teague made it 100-93 and forced a Clippers timeout with 3:03 remaining.

LA made one last charge, as with 1:25 left, Jordan grabbed a missed J.J. Redick 3-pointer and finished with a dunk to get the Clippers within four. In response, on the ensuing possession, George drilled a corner triple to seal arguably the team's best win to date.

"I thought we had a chance to win the game when we cut it to four, but we just didn't get over the hump," Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said. "We had three, four, or five times during the game where we made runs and then they made a three, we turned it over, they got an offensive rebound."

For Indiana, Thad Young finished with 17 points and seven rebounds. George had a solid return to the court, scoring 16 points to go along with seven rebounds and five assists. C.J. Miles scored 12 and grabbed five boards. Pacers head coach Nate McMillan was glad to see his pair of small forwards back in action.

"It's always great to have all of your guys to see what you have," he said. "Those guys had two good practices this weekend. We needed all of our guys to be back, but I thought it was a team effort."

The Clippers were led by Griffin's double-double of 24 points and 16 rebounds. Chris Paul also put together a double-double, finishing with 18 points and 11 assists.

Inside the Numbers

After shooting 55 percent in the first quarter, the Clippers made just 35 percent of their attempts the rest of the way.

C.J. Miles had the team's best +/- rating, finishing with a rating of +18.

Indiana had 35 attempts from the free throw line, converting 28, while LA went 20-of-28 from the charity stripe.

You Can Quote Me On That

"Indiana just got us. We started off the game well but we just didn't have it in the third quarter. They came out and were aggressive and caught us off guard." - Clippers point guard Chris Paul

"We want to get up and play aggressive defense, challenge every catch that teams make and we've done that. We did it in the last game, we did it tonight." - Pacers head coach Nate McMillan

"I feel like we play better when everybody is a threat out there. Having [Paul George] back, there were no soft spots out there. Everybody can be effective at any time." - Pacers point guard Jeff Teague

"We played very poorly, especially in the third quarter. I just didn't think we had it tonight, and you could tell by the types of shots we were missing and the turnovers we had." - Clippers power forward Blake Griffin

Stat of the Night

Indiana won the turnover battle handily, committing just nine giveaways to LA's 20. In both contests against the Pacers this season, the Clippers committed 20 turnovers.

Noteworthy

  • J.J. Redick made a 3-pointer for the 77th straight game. His streak is the longest active one in the NBA.
  • Heading into tonight, Paul George had missed six of the team's last seven games.
  • For the first time all season, Indiana had all 15 of its players available to play.

Up Next

Indiana's road trip continues Monday night, as the Blue & Gold head to the Bay Area to face off against Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors. Tipoff is set for 10:30 PM ET, and you can catch the action on Fox Sports Indiana or NBA TV.

Tickets

The Pacers return home on Saturday, Dec. 10, when they will host the Portland Trail Blazers at 7:00 PM ET. Saturday's game is also the second "Decade Game" of the season, and we'll be honoring Pacers players and staffers from the 1970s during the game. All fans in attendance will receive a bobblehead of either Hall of Famer Mel Daniels or Pacers legend George McGinnis. Find Tickets »