Game Rewind: Pacers 109, Nuggets 105 (Overtime)

After going into overtime against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night, the Pacers opened up the extra period with a 5-0 run keyed by two assists from Monta Ellis, the game's leading scorer.

After the Nuggets scored out of a timeout, Ellis nailed a scoop layup to push the Pacers' lead to five points with 1:40 remaining in the contest. It was all part of a season-high 32 points for Ellis, who scored or assisted on all 10 of the Pacers' points in the overtime period, finishing the night with nine rebounds and six dimes as well.

The Nuggets, however, returned fire with a quick 4-0 run to bring them within one point of the lead at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. With 32.3 seconds left, Denver came out of a timeout and tried to run a play, but Danilo Gallinari stepped out of bounds on the baseline, giving the ball back to Indiana with 28 seconds left and leading by a point.

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The ball was given to the hot hand in Ellis, who drove the lane and picked up the bucket and a foul to push the Pacers' lead to four with 20 seconds left, enough of a cushion to finish the the game and closeout the Nuggets with a 109-105 victory; the second win in a row for Indiana.

"Last time we played we gave them 45 points in the fourth quarter, this time 16," Pacers head coach Frank Vogel said. "That's a start. And defensive rebounding. We had a great effort by our bigs and our guards came in to rebound."

In the remaining moments of the fourth quarter, with 22.3 seconds left and the shot clock turned off, the Pacers inbounded the ball with things knotted up at 99.

The crowd roared as Ellis dribbled the clock down before firing a 3-point attempt, but the shot was wide and time expired before either team could collect a rebound, sending the contest into overtime. In the frantic fourth frame, the lead changed hands eight times, including five times in the final four minutes of action at The Fieldhouse.

With 3:20 remaining in the fourth quarter, Myles Turner hit a jumper to put the Pacers is front 96-95. But on the other end, Kenneth Faried nailed a floater in the lane to put the Nuggets on top.

Paul George — who finished the night with 19 points and seven assists — quickly responded with a jumper of his own, But Gallinari answered right back to put the Nuggets ahead by one with a minute remaining.

Needing a bucket, Ellis was able to draw a foul and connect on the second of two free throws, knotting things up and sending the game towards its heart-pounding conclusion.

"The last few games we've been playing as a team, a total team effort," Ellis said at his locker. "We've been getting stops at the end when we have needed to. We need to continue that and keep playing together."

In the first half, it was clear Ellis had it going early, scoring 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while handing out three dimes. Ellis' points helped lift Indiana to an eight point advantage at the end of the first, which it ended up taking into the half after both teams scored 24 points in the second quarter.

It was announced shortly before the game began that center Ian Mahinmi would miss the game with a sore lower back. That left the frontcourt duties to Myles Turner and Jordan Hill. Turner was just 2-of-8 from the field in the first half, but hauled in eight rebounds. In the second half, Turner blocked three shots and hit a clutch jumper with 3:26 left in regulation.

In the third quarter, the Nuggets came out of the locker room and reclaimed the lead for the first time since they led the contest 9-7. However, despite getting ahead by four points and outscoring the Pacers 32-21, a buzzer-beating jumper from Ellis brought Indiana within three heading into the fourth, setting up the tight finish at The Fieldhouse.

Pacers fans can be forgiven for wincing upon seeing the game head to OT; the Pacers were 0-4 this season in overtime games. On this night, however, Ellis turned in arguably his finest performance of the season, filling up the stat sheet and having the steady hand all throughout the night, which pushed the Pacers to the second win of their four-game home stand.

The final game of their home stand comes against the top team in the East on Monday, the Cleveland Cavaliers.

When asked what they needed to do to pick up what would arguably be their biggest win of the season, Myles Turner didn't hesitate.

"Defense, defense, defense," Turner said. "We need to carry that over against the number one team in the East on Monday."

The Pacers tied their season high with 10 blocked shots. Jordan Hill turned away six of them.

Indiana is now 14-5 when outrebounding its opponent.

Monta Ellis' 28 field goal attempts were the second-most a Pacers player has had this season. Paul George hoisted up 29 attempts in an overtime loss to Miami on January 4.

No Pacers player hit more than two free throws on the night. The team went 12-of-16 from the line.

"I feel good. We got the win. I can't feel any other type of way. We gutted it out and we grinded it out when we needed to. And we locked down on the defensive end. So it's a good win for us." -Myles Turner

"It really was my teammates. They were knocking down shots and it was opening it up for me. We were able to share the ball, move the ball around and get open shots. It was a total team effort. We just played together as a team." -Monta Ellis

"Poor, poor job. At the end of the day, that's my fault. A team's ability to execute late under pressure starts with me as a head coach. I thought our execution was poor, did not get clean looks, did not run the right sets, we ran the wrong plays coming out of the huddle a few times so we've been decent most of the year in terms of late game execution." -Nuggets coach Michael Malone

"Just (Monta Ellis') will to get a win. He doesn't care about numbers. He carried a lot of the load in the first half. He's a dynamic basketball player. He can do stuff you can't teach a lot of guys to do. He was special tonight." -Frank Vogel

The Pacers were just 3-17 this season when trailing going into the fourth quarter, and 0-4 in overtime games. But on Saturday night, not only did the Pacers rally from a three-point deficit entering fourth quarter, but they nabbed their first overtime victory of the season.

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Select Hooded Fleece - $25. Game Night Specials can be purchased in the Home Court Gift Shop or any of our souvenir stands located on all levels of Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The special is also available online at PacersGear.com until midnight.