David Benner

Orlando -- The Indiana Pacers concluded play in the Mountain Dew Orlando Pro Summer League with an 89-80 victory over Oklahoma City Thursday at the Amway Center.

The Pacers finished 4-1 and in third place after missing the championship game by a half point. In four previous games, teams earned one point for winning a quarter, four points for a win.

PACERS SUMMER LEAGUE CENTRAL: Stories, Photos, and Highlights »

Thursday, the Pacers had just eight players available due to injuries and early departures. But those eight overcame a rough second quarter and two-point halftime deficit to lead by as many as nine in the second half.

"The last two weeks we talked about playing hard, playing unselfish and respecting the game," said Pacers Summer League coach Popeye Jones. "Even though we we short-handed, that was what today's game was all about. Even in this short period of time, we wanted to be a team that plays hard and physical. That's what we want in Indiana."

PHOTO GALLERY: Pacers 89, Thunder 80 (Summer League) »

Jarnell Stokes led the Pacers with 17 points. Travis Leslie and Trey McKinney Jones added 13 each. Jordan Loyd had seven points, 10 rebounds, and six assists.

Joe Young and T.J. Leaf both sat out the game with minor injuries.

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Game Rewind: Pacers 89, Thunder 80 (Summer League)

ORLANDO -- A promising start turned into a futile finish as the Indiana Pacers lost to Dallas, 94-79, in the Mountain Dew Orlando Pro Summer League at the Amway Center here Tuesday.

The loss dropped the Pacers to 3-1 and they will await the outcome of Wednesday's games to find out if they will play for the championship Thursday. The Pacers have Wednesday off.

Tuesday, the Pacers jumped out to a 24-12 lead after the first quarter, saw that trimmed to four by the half and then a game-long problem, turnovers, took affect. And the 3-0 Mavericks took full control. For the game, the Pacers had 24, leading to 40 Dallas points.

"Dallas' intensity and pressure hurt us, which led to turnovers and that was pretty much the game," said Popeye Jones, the Pacers' Summer league coach. "They were faster than us and we were a step slow, which was to be expected as we have been going at it for eight straight days. We've got a day off, we'll play Thursday and try to finish this the right way with a win."

PHOTO GALLERY: Pacers 79, Mavericks 94 »

Jarnell Stokes led the Pacers with 15 points and seven rebounds. Trey McKinney Jones had 11, Joe Young 10 and top draft pick T.J. Leaf, Ben Moore and Jordan Loyd all had 7. Loyd also had six assists.

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Game Rewind: Pacers 79, Mavericks 94 (Summer League)

The Indiana Pacers ran their record to 3-0 in the Mountain Dew Orlando Pro Summer League here Monday with an 86-83 victory over the Miami Heat.

Unlike their first two victories, the Pacers faced a hurdle in the form of a 10-point halftime deficit, but rallied back in the second half behind the play of many contributors: Chris Johnson, T.J. Leaf, Jarnell Stokes, Joe Young and Rakeem Christmas.

Stokes and Christmas in particular played huge roles in the second half by slowing Miami's No. 1 draft choice, Bam Adebayo from Kentucky, who finished with 29 points (13 of those from the line) and 11 rebounds.

With both teams struggling from the 3-point line (Pacers 4-for-27, Miami 3-for-24), it became a game that was to be decided on the inside. Which is where the Pacers won it with 17 offensive rebounds that led to 29 second-chance points.

"The biggest thing was this was really the first adversity we had faced with being behind by as many as 11 points," said Pacers' Summer league coach Popeye Jones. "But we came together at halftime, there was no griping and we got back in the game. One of the things we talked about from day one was having physical toughness and mental toughness.

"We were behind, shots weren't falling, guys were tired but we went inside to get our points and that required both mental and physical toughness. Over half our points today were in the paint."

Leaf, the Pacers' No. 1 draft pick from UCLA, led the Pacers with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Young had 17 with six assists, Stokes 14 and seven rebounds, Johnson 12, and Christmas, in his first game after recovering from a sprained ankle, had nine points and five rebounds. Young also sustained a dislocated finger in the third quarter, but came back in the fourth.

Travis Leslie, who led the Pacers in their first two games with 20 in each, had a tough night shooting (2 of 10) and finished with four points.

The Pacers play Dallas (2-0) today (3:00 p.m., NBATV) before getting Wednesday off. Thursday will be the final day with the teams seeded according to points earned in the four games they played. Teams get one point for winning a quarter, four points for winning a game. The Pacer currently lead with 19.5 over Oklahoma City (13.5) and Dallas (12). They each have played just two games.

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Game Rewind: Pacers 86, Heat 83 (Summer League)

Orlando -- The Indiana Pacers beat Charlotte, 84-77, at the Amway Center Sunday to improve to 2-0 in the Mountain Dew Orlando Pro Summer League.

The Pacers are in first place after two days with 13 points. Teams are awarded one point for winning a quarter, four points for winning the game.

For the second straight game, Travis Leslie, who played with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants last season, led the Pacers with 20 points. The game also marked the debut of the Pacers' No. 1 draft pick, T.J. Leaf from UCLA. He played 24 minutes and scored 12 points with five rebounds.

"I would rate my first game as solid," said Leaf. "It was good to get one under my belt. I know what it's like now as far as the physicality. I don't know if I was surprised, but now I know what to expect."

As they did in their opening game against Orlando, the Pacers led much of this game, but never got much breathing room until the end. They played the game without three big men (Georges Niang, sprained left knee; Rakeem Christmas, sprained left ankle; and Augusto Cesar Lima, sore lower back).

"That was a big, strong, physical team we played tonight," said Pacers Summer league coach Popeye Jones. "With the three bigs out, we knew we were undersized, but we battled and fought. It was good to see T.J. Get his first action. He showed some good skills offensively."

Joe Young had 14 points and seven assists for the Pacers as he ran the team from the point guard spot.

"My goal this week is to win, show the organization I can lead the team and play high intensity defense," Young said.

The Pacers return to the court today for a 5:00 p.m. (NBATV) game against Miami.

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Game Rewind: Pacers 84, Hornets 77 (Summer League)

Orlando -- When Georges Niang went down with a sprained left knee less than 90 seconds into the Indiana Pacers' first game of the 2017 Mountain Dew Orlando Pro Summer League, someone had to step up.

Two did, a former college teammate and a member of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Pacers' NBA G League affiliate. So, the Pacers won their opener at the Amway Center, 85-74, over Orlando.

Much is expected from Niang, the Pacers' 2016 second-round draft pick from Iowa State, in the summer league so the injury -- he will be questionable for today's 5:00 p.m. game against Charlotte -- was an early blow.

"Georges went down so I had to step up for my teammates," said Travis Leslie, the Mad Ant, who led the Pacers with 20 points and added eight rebounds. Leslie stepped into Niang's power forward position.

"I had to step up," said Naz Long, the former Cyclone, who had 16 points. "I hated to see Georges go down like that, he has worked so hard this summer to prepare for this. He said 'pick me up' and that's what I had to do."

The Pacers led most of this game and by as many as 20. But there were hiccups in the third and fourth quarters that allowed the Magic to eventually tie the game at 69. The Pacers, however, finished the game as they started with a strong push and pulled away in the last five minutes.

"In the first half (when they led by 20) we came out aggressive on defense sharing the ball on offense," said Popeye Jones, the Pacers' Summer league coach. "In the third, our defensive energy was down. Maybe we got tired so it might be my fault for not substituting sooner. But what I liked was we stayed together. They (the Magic) are going to make a run but we settled down."

Joe Young had 11 points and six assists, Trey McKinney Jones has 11 points and Jarnell Stokes had 10 points with nine rebounds. Chris Johnson led the rebounders with 10.

Rakeem Christmas sat out the game with a sprained left ankle sustained in practice Thursday. T.J. Leaf, the Pacers No. 1 pick from UCLA, will rejoin the team today after attending his brother's wedding.

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Game Rewind: Pacers 85, Magic 74 (Summer League)

Dave Twardzik summed it up best. "If you didn't like George Irvine, something was wrong with you," said Twardzik, one of George's best friends who worked with him from 1986-89 with the Pacers. "The word great is thrown around too frequently, but in George's case, it fits. He was just a great guy."

Irvine, a former Pacers' head coach from 1984-86 and on an interim basis in 1988, passed away Monday night at the age of 69. While with the Pacers, he also served as an assistant coach and an assistant to then General Manager/President Donnie Walsh. Later in his career, Irvine would coach the Detroit Pistons.

And Walsh is well aware of George's impact on him. When Irvine was named Pacers' head coach in 1984, he hired Walsh to be an assistant. In 1986, Walsh became general manager and, as they say, the rest is history.

"George Irvine brought me to Indiana and in my mind he was the beginning of NBA basketball with the Pacers in our building process for the years to come," said Walsh. "He had a great basketball mind, which allowed him to function at a high level as a coach, administrator and purveyor of talent. George was a once-in-a-lifetime friend and one of the best men in my life."

When Irvine was head coach, his teams struggled to a .293 winning percentage. But the fact, according to another team executive at the time, was "You've got a good coach, you've got good guys, unfortunately you have a lot of young players."

One of those young players was a promising forward out of Ohio State, Clark Kellogg. When Irvine became the head coach, Clark's career was coming to an end due to a knee injury.

"I enjoyed him from the standpoint that he was knowledgeable and fun to be around," said Kellogg. "He had a good sense of humor, he was a good teacher, but I enjoyed his personality. I was young, cutting my teeth in the NBA and I never got a chance to be healthy and play for him at my best because of my knee. He was quick with a story, and he had plenty of them, and he was quick with a laugh."

Another young player was Jerry Sichting. He and George found common ground when Irvine was an assistant coach.

"George was an assistant coach when I was a rookie and he gave me a lot of insight," said Sichting. "There weren't four, five assistants like now, so he was basically the only guy. He let me know what to expect. The game was different back then and you had to make your mark as a rookie. He had gone through a lot of the same things as a player in the ABA and took the time to relate those things to me. He loved basketball, he was a very knowledgable coach. We weren't great back then, but he stayed positive. He knew we weren't going to win the NBA championship, so he tried to develop us, he looked at himself as a teacher, made it fun and kept it fun."

"I thoroughly enjoyed him," said David Craig, the Pacers' long-time trainer. "George cared about all  the people who worked with him. He really cared about his players. We struggled a lot those years from a win-loss situation but he always stayed upbeat, kept his sense of humor and had consideration for all those involved. He was a very strong influence on my life. He was just a down to earth, great guy to be around."

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Remembering George Irvine

Orlando -- The Indiana Pacers posted their first victory in the Southwest Airlines Summer Pro League Thursday afternoon by beating the Orlando Magic Blue team, 91-85, at the Amway Center.

The Pacers' top draft pick, Myles Turner, sat out the game for rest, but second-round pick Joe Young picked up the slack. The 6-1 point guard led all scorers with 28 points, hitting 9-of-17 shots from the floor that included 5-of-9 on 3-pointers. Through three games, Young is averaging 20.7 points per game on 52 percent shooting from the floor, 53 percent on 3-pointers and 90 percent from the line.

Turner has been equally impressive in the three games he has played, averaging 18.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 4.3 blocks per game.

GAME COVERAGE: Box Score »   Photo Gallery »

Prior to Thursday's game, the Pacers added 6-9 forward Amath M'Baye to their summer league roster. He played with the Pacers' Summer league team in 2013. He was added as the Pacers were without Turner, Solomon Hill (he returned home), Shayne Whittington (personal reasons) and Matt Stainbrook, who left to play in the Las Vegas Summer League. When the Pacers play on Friday (2:00 PM against Orlando's Blue team once again) they will be without Romero Osby, who left after Thursday's game for Las Vegas.

Against the Magic Blue, all 10 Pacers available scored with Osby adding 12 and Arinze Onuaku, starting for Turner, had 11 with nine rebounds and three blocked shots.

"We looked like a team out there," said Pacers assistant coach Dan Burke. "Joe pressuring their point guards set the tone for how we wanted to play. We were the aggressors. And Arinze was a calming factor for us. He got the court spaced and made the game easier."

Said Young, "Coach told me the point guard sets the tempo for the team so I wanted to pick up all 94 feet. Our intensity was off the charts."

RELATED: More on Orlando Summer League »

Saturday, July 4: Pacers 76, Miami 92
Monday, July 6: Pacers 76, Orlando White 85
Wednesday, July 8: Pacers 65, Detroit 90
Thursday, July 9: Pacers 91 Orlando Blue 85
Friday, July 10 (Championship Day): Pacers vs Orlando Blue (2:00 PM)

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Game Rewind: Pacers 91, Orlando Blue 85 (Summer League)

ORLANDO -- The Indiana Pacers continued to struggle in Southwest Airlines Orlando Pro Summer League here at the Amway Center as they fell to 0-3 in a 90-65 loss to Detroit Wednesday afternoon.

The Pacers led briefly early in the game, but the Pistons built an 8-point lead after the first quarter, pushed it to double figures in the second quarter and never looked back, leading by as many 27 points. That turned the focus away from the outcome and onto the Pacers' two draft picks, Myles Turner and Joe Young, and they didn't disappoint.

Young led all scorers with 25 points, hitting 9-of-15 from the floor and all three of his 3-point attempts. He also had five assists, but four turnovers. Turner had his third straight solid game with 23 points (9-for-16 from the field), eight rebounds, and four blocked shots. After two foul-plagued games, Turner had just one Wednesday.

"Myles keeps showing us a wealth of potential," said Pacers assistant coach Dan Burke. "Joe is still figuring out the (NBA) game, when to pass, when to shoot, but he's got good potential."

As for the game, the Pacers were able to cut back on their turnovers (14), but other problems cropped up. Detroit dominated the boards by a 47-29 count, 14 offensively that led to 16 Pistons points.

"We let them get to the paint on us offensively and we didn't fight on the boards like we are capable," said Burke. "Offensively, we couldn't get organized and didn't execute very well. That said, we missed a lot of open shots."

The Pacers played without second-year forward Shayne Whittington, who missed the game for personal reasons.
The Pacers will meet the Orlando Blue team in Thursday's first game at 1 p.m.

Saturday, July 4: Pacers 76, Miami 92
Monday, July 6: Pacers 76, Orlando White 85
Wednesday, July 8: Pacers 65, Detroit 90
Thursday, July 9: Pacers vs Orlando Blue (1:00 PM)
Friday, July 10 (Championship Day): Pacers vs TBD (Time TBD)