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Game Rewind: Pacers 107, Jazz 100

Game Recap

On the surface, the deck was stacked against the Pacers on Monday night.

Indiana was on the second half of a back-to-back, coming off a 25-point loss on Sunday evening in Toronto. Their opponent, the Utah Jazz, was rested, having arrived in Indianapolis on Sunday and gotten in a practice at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Once the game tipped on Monday, Paul George, the Pacers' All-Star forward struggled to find his shot. Gordon Hayward, Utah's All-Star swingman, seemingly couldn't miss.

Nonetheless, the Pacers (36-34) jumped out to an early lead and never relinquished it over the final three quarters of a balanced effort, coming away with a 107-100 win over the Jazz (43-28).

The Pacers led 100-89 with 3:17 remaining, but Utah reeled off eight unanswered points over the next 1:06 to make it a one-possession game. Joe Ingles and Hayward knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers before Rudy Gobert blocked George on the wing, leading to an easy run-out layup for Hayward.

George bounced back, knocking down a three on the next possession. His former Pacers teammate George Hill answered with an old-fashioned three-point play at the other end.

The Pacers failed to score on their next two possessions, but the Jazz couldn't capitalize on the other end. Hayward missed an open three on one possession and then Myles Turner blocked Gobert on the next.

George then gave the home fans some much-needed relief, burying a pull-up jumper over Hayward with 18.9 seconds remaining to seal the win.

"It was time to win a ballgame," George said. "It would have been a shame if we fought that hard — especially a back-to-back where we were giving all that energy — and (lost) that game in the end."

The victory spoiled a career night from Hayward, who scored 38 points on 16-of-24 shooting back in his hometown.

Jeff Teague led Indiana with 21 points, five rebounds, and five assists in the victory. George added 19 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Turner finished with 16 points and four blocks, while C.J. Miles chipped in 15 points.

"We played well tonight," Teague said. "We played hard. We were a group out there."

Perhaps it was preordained that Indiana would win on Monday, as the Blue & Gold have now alternated between wins and losses for 14 consecutive contests dating back to before the All-Star break, extending what was already the longest such streak in franchise history.

The Pacers surged in front early thanks to some hot shooting from beyond the arc. Miles and Teague each nailed two 3-pointers in the opening minutes before Monta Ellis got in on the act, knocking down a triple with 2:48 left in the first quarter that gave Indiana a 24-14 lead.

"I just wanted to be sure the start wasn't a problem again," Miles said. "I didn't want us to be flat — I wanted to bring as much energy as I could."

Utah cut the deficit to two with 9:33 left in the second quarter, but the Blue & Gold immediately answered with a 7-0 run. The Jazz later reeled off six unanswered points in the closing seconds of the half to once again trim the margin to two before Glenn Robinson III banked in a running 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to give the home team a 51-46 lead.

Teague scored 12 points in the third quarter to help the Pacers maintain their lead. Indiana closed the frame with a 10-2 spurt to take an 80-70 advantage into the fourth.

Indiana extended its lead to as many as 13 points before Utah reeled off a 9-0 run to climb back into the game. The Pacers eventually pushed the margin back to double digits again before the Jazz mounted their late rally.

Indiana won despite a slow start from George, who missed his first eight shots and didn't score until the 3:33 mark in the second quarter. He finished the night just 6-of-20 from the floor, but hit the biggest shot of the night.

"It's basketball," George said. "Every night, as you see, there's going to be ups and downs, there's going to be adversity, stuff you're going to play through.

"But I'm a basketball player. I'm a warrior. I'm going to keep on fighting, I'm going to keep on scrapping. I feel like every shot I'm taking is going in and I'm confident."

Ellis and Al Jefferson chipped in 12 and 10 points off the bench, respectively, in the victory.

Gobert nearly recorded a triple-double for Utah, finishing with 16 points, 14 rebounds, and eight blocks. Hill tallied 16 points, six rebounds, and six assists in his first game back at The Fieldhouse since being traded from Indiana to Utah over the summer in the three-team deal that brought Teague to the Pacers.

Indiana will next play at Boston on Wednesday before returning to host Denver on Friday and Philadelphia on Sunday.

Inside the Numbers

The Pacers had six players score in double figures for the 20th time this season and improved to 15-5 on the year when six or more players score 10 or more points.

Turner blocked four shots for the 14th time this season. Indiana is 12-2 in those games.

Both Al Jefferson and Aaron Brooks got minutes off the bench for Indiana. The two veterans had been in the rotation for much of the season but were displaced in recent weeks by Rakeem Christmas and Rodney Stuckey. Jefferson scored in double figures for the first time since the All-Star break on 5-of-9 shooting. Brooks did not score, but dished out four assists in 10:58.

The Pacers went 21-for-23 from the free throw line (91.3 percent). Utah was just 14-for-20 from the charity stripe (70 percent).

Hayward's 38 points surpassed his previous career mark of 37, set on Jan. 7, 2014 against Oklahoma City. His season high was 36, set at Dallas on Feb. 9.

Gobert's eight blocks were a new career best.

You Can Quote Me On That

"I think it's obvious our guys feed off our crowd and our energy in our building. I thought we played solid start to finish against a very good team. We talked about playing with a sense of urgency and we did tonight." -Pacers head coach Nate McMillan

"Defensively I think we did a really good job. They have some talented players. Gordon (Hayward) had a big night and we just tried to make it tough on them. I’m just glad we got the win." -Teague

"We just scrapped. We got some loose basketballs and made some hustle plays. Paul hit some big shots...that's a good basketball team (Utah), they made some plays. They made some big threes late but it's about staying the course. Every game is a game of runs, whether they come late or early." -Miles

"I would absolutely prefer to win the game. I'd rather have zero points and win the game. Offense wasn't our problem tonight, we couldn't get stops for some reason." -Hayward

"They (Indiana) did a good job of making big shots, making big plays, and we didn't do enough to pull it off. But like I said, it's no time to panic. We just need to gather ourselves and have a good end to the season. I thought we made some great stops but we missed a lot of open looks and we normally hit those." -Hill

Stat of the Game

Despite several charges by the Jazz, the Pacers led for the final 42:42 of Monday's contest after taking a 13-11 lead on Jeff Teague's 3-pointer with 6:42 left in the first quarter.

Noteworthy

  • Monday's win evened the all-time series between the Pacers and the Jazz at 42-42.
  • The Pacers snapped a three-game losing streak against Utah on Monday.
  • Indiana is now 5-11 on the season when playing on the second night of a back-to-back, but 5-4 when the second game is played at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Up Next

The Pacers head to Boston for their final regular season game against the Celtics on Wednesday, March 22 at 7:30 PM ET.

Tickets

The Pacers will host the Denver Nuggets for a Hickory Night game on Friday, March 24 at 7:00 PM ET. Warsaw's Judi Warren, Indiana's first IndyStar Miss Basketball, will be honored at the game. Find Tickets »