Game Rewind: Pacers 94, Kings 99

The Sacramento Kings entered Bankers Life Fieldhouse on the second half of a back-to-back and mired in an eight-game losing streak.

They didn't look the part, however, on Saturday night. The Kings (17-29) led by double digits for most of the night and withstood a late rally to hold off the Pacers (17-32), 99-94.

Sacramento seized control midway through the first quarter, reeling off a 19-2 run to take a 30-12 lead. Former Pacers guard Darren Collison scored seven points in that sequence, while dynamic forward Rudy Gay added six. The Pacers, meanwhile, missed seven of eight shots and coughed the ball up six times over a 6:04 stretch.

"We turned the ball over and didn’t play well offensively, didn’t really settle into the game," Pacers guard C.J. Miles said. "Even the good looks we got, we didn’t shoot the ball well."

The Kings stretched their lead to as many as 23 points in the second quarter, though Indiana did mount a bit of a rally. George Hill scored seven straight points in a 1:02 stretch in the latter half of the quarter to cut the deficit to 13, but that would be the closest the home team would get before the break.

The visitors scored 64 points in the first half, matching the most the Pacers have allowed in the first half this season, shooting 50 percent from the field. Sacramento was a perfect 18-of-18 from the free throw line in the half, while Indiana only attempted five free throws.

"The plan was not to put them to the free throw line," Pacers head coach Frank Vogel said. "They're number one in the league in drawing fouls. We weren’t very disciplined with our hands and our body position and we marched them to the line 18 times."

Indiana mounted another rally in the second half, reeling off a 16-3 run over the end of the third and beginning of the fourth quarters to climb within seven points of the lead. But Sacramento righted the ship, holding the Pacers at bay for the next several minutes.

The Blue & Gold eventually made it a two-possession game when Kings All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins fouled out with 1:46 to play. Roy Hibbert hit two free throws to trim the deficit to six, then C.J. Miles knocked down a pair on the next possession to make the score 93-89 with 1:21 remaining.

To the home crowd's dismay, Gay responded by knocking down a fadeaway jumper over two defenders on the left baseline that was the proverbial dagger.

George Hill did manage to hit a 3-pointer with six seconds remaining that cut the deficit to three, but Gay calmly knocked down both free throws to seal the victory for the visitors.

The Kings' new triumvirate of Collison, Gay, and Cousins did most of the heavy lifting for the Sacramento offense on Saturday. Gay led the way with 31 points on 10-of-22 shooting. Collison added 23, going 9-for-15 from the field. Cousins was just 6-for-24, but still managed 20 points and 19 rebounds, recording his 28th double-double of the season.

C.J. Miles and David West both had 17 points to lead Indiana. Luis Scola finished with 13 points and five rebounds, while Roy Hibbert added 11 points and seven boards. George Hill tallied 14 points, six rebounds, and four assists in 22:06 off the bench.

Indiana now has three days off before returning to the court against their Central Division rivals, the Detroit Pistons, on Wednesday at 7:00 PM.

The Pacers made just 5-of-25 attempts from 3-point range in the loss. Miles was just 1-for-9 from long range, while George Hill was 2-for-8. Solomon Hill had gone 5-for-7 from beyond the arc in his last two games, but missed all three of his attempts on Saturday.

After scoring 22 points in each of the last two games, starting shooting guard Rodney Stuckey managed just two points for the Pacers on Saturday, going 1-for-5 from the field in 19:11. Stuckey, who had attempted 13 free throws in the past two contests, did not get to the charity stripe against the Kings.

Though he averages a little over 20 points per game, Gay topped 30 points for just the second time this season on Saturday night. The UConn product scored 40 points against Portland back on Oct. 31.

Collison has now scored in double figures in 21 straight games. He had 12 points in the first quarter alone on Saturday.

Indiana committed 15 turnovers on the night leading to 22 points on the other end. The Pacers did, however, force 11 of Sacramento's 14 turnovers after halftime, which helped considerably in their comeback attempt.

"We just tried to push up the pressure and gamble more. We gambled against Minnesota and got burned. Tonight the gambling played in our favor." -Frank Vogel on the Pacers' second-half defense

"I want to see George Hill and C.J. Miles get their legs back under them. They’re banged up and they're getting back to being healthy, but clearly they don't have their legs under them...Both of them are two of our best shooters. And we sorely need some perimeter shooting to support our inside game." -Vogel on not playing again until Wednesday

"We battled back but we can’t keep putting ourselves in positions where we have our backs to the wall. We keep making it tough on ourselves." -C.J. Miles

"I tried to stay aggressive and have him make tough shots. A guy like that, a great offensive talent, one of the elite offensive guys in the league, it’s not easy to stop him completely. My teammates did an excellent job of helping me. He came through in the end." -Pacers forward Damjan Rudez on guarding Rudy Gay

"I’d be lying if I said I didn’t. This is an organization that I have a lot of respect for. But any time I go against my former teammates I look forward to the challenge." -Collison on playing against Indiana, the team he played for from 2010-12

"That is something that is being preached to us. I thought it helped set the tone, having our three primary guys get off to a good start. I thought it allowed everybody else to get into a flow." -Cousins on the Kings' fast start

Sacramento made its first 23 free throw attempts on Saturday, not missing until Ben McLemore's foul shot bounced around the rim and out with 8:43 left in the first quarter.

Amazingly, the Kings weren't very close to the NBA record for most free throws in a game without a miss. That mark belongs to the Utah Jazz, who went a perfect 39-for-39 from the charity stripe in a game in Portland on Dec. 7, 1982.

The Pacers host Andre Drummond and the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday, Feb. 4 at 7:00 PM. Find Tickets »