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Game Rewind: Pacers 103, Mavericks 111

Game Recap

Hot shooting from beyond the arc carried Indiana Pacers in the first half, but when the shots stopped falling and the defense didn't hold up, the Dallas Mavericks were too much, knocking off the Pacers, 111-103.

Indiana shot 10-of-14 from beyond the arc through the first two quarters, but were just 4-of-11 the rest of the way.

Paul George set the tone in the first, as he finished with 13 points, including shooting a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. At one point, he scored 10 in a row for the Pacers, and the final basket of that streak gave Indiana a 22-18 lead with 1:54 remaining in the period.

Dallas retook the lead with a 5-0 run, but Indiana answered with five in a row to help it to a 27-25 lead heading into the second.

In the second quarter, C.J. Miles followed in George's footsteps. Miles led Indiana's offense by drilling all four of his shots from the 3-point line. His fourth make gave the visitors a 44-38 lead and forced a Dallas timeout with 6:18 left in the half.

Indiana extended its lead to eight before the Mavs came roaring back. Dallas scored seven straight to make it a one-point contest with 3:10 remaining.

In what would be foreshadowing for the second half, Indiana's offense was unable to score during the last three minutes of the second quarter and went into the locker room down two.

After halftime, Dallas' offense began to click. Thanks to long range shooting, the Mavs built their halftime advantage to 10.

Jeff Teague was fouled attempting a three and made all three shots to cut the lead to seven, but Dallas responded with back-to-back triples from Dorian Finney-Smith and Matthews to push their lead to 13 with 5:18 left in the third.

Indiana was able to make some headway into the deficit, getting it down to five with just over a minute to play in the quarter, but Harrison Barnes scored three points in a row to take lead back up to eight, 85-77, as the teams entered the final period.

To start the fourth, Al Jefferson scored six straight for Indiana to get the Pacers within seven. As close as Indiana got, it just couldn't get over the hump.

Dallas answered with a Barnes 3-pointer and Salah Mejri layup to go back up by 12 with 8:30 left in the game.

"The second half they got free on the perimeter and starting knocking down threes, and just defensively we didn’t do a good job controlling the ball, and then closing out to those shooters," Pacers head coach Nate McMillan said.

Over those final eight minutes, a similar theme continued. Indiana would score but wasn't able to string stops together to significantly cut into Dallas' advantage.

Indiana finished its five-game road trip with a record of 2-3.

"Well, it’s a loss, and for us I felt like we could win this game," McMillan said. "We had to play a certain way. We certainly had to bring more energy on the defensive end of the floor, [and] get some ball movement on the offensive end of the floor [and] make them defend, and that didn’t happen. So, we leave off this road trip with just two wins going home with a team waiting on us and try and get back tomorrow night.”

George finished as Indiana's leading scorer with 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting. Miles ended with six 3-pointers for 18 points, and Myles Turner also scored 18.

For Dallas, Barnes led the way with 25 points and eight rebounds. Wesley Matthews scored 26 points, and Deron Williams added 16 points and six assists.

Inside the Numbers

Paul George led the team in rebounding for the fourth game in a row.

Dallas' Dorian Finney-Smith set career highs in points (12) and rebounds (8).

The last four games, Indiana has attempted 35 or more free throws. Tonight, the Pacers only got to the line 26 times.

You Can Quote Me On That

"We certainly had to bring more energy on the defensive end of the floor, [and] get some ball movement on the offensive end of the floor [and] make them defend, and that didn’t happen." - Pacers head coach Nate McMillan

"We caught them at a good time. They are at the end of a trip. They have been out for a long time and were coming off of a win. We were ready to go tonight which was great to see. I think it was one of our better games." - Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle

“We just wanted to come out and compete. We felt like we left a lot out there on the court the other night. We had a good practice and we tried to come out here tonight and give it our all.” - Mavericks forward Dorian Finney-Smith

"It was a defensive effort, it was energy effort, and it was just a gutsy and big-time performance all across the board." - Mavericks guard Wesley Matthews

Noteworthy

  • Before tonight, Indiana had won four of its last five games in Dallas
  • C.J. Miles' six 3-pointers were the most he's made in a game this season
  • Rodney Stuckey dished out a season-high eight assists.

Stat of the Night

Indiana leads the NBA in turnovers forced per game with 16.5 but only made the Mavericks give it away eight times on Friday night.

Up Next

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 »

Away Game Night Special

Select Shorts - 50% off. Game Night Specials can be purchased online the day of each away game from 10:00 AM - Midnight. Order Online »