Game Rewind: Pacers 109, Wizards 101

It was more interesting than maybe it should have been, but the Indiana Pacers picked up their fourth straight win on Monday night.

Indiana (17-10) built and then nearly surrendered a 25-point lead, but made just enough plays down the stretch to hold on for a 109-101 win over the Washington Wizards (11-16).

"It's really inexcusable how we let them get back in the game, but it's the NBA, you're trying to get the win," Collison said. "We got the win."

Myles Turner led the Pacers with a season-high 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting, 12 rebounds, and five blocks in the victory, while Collison added 10 points, seven rebounds, and a Pacers career-best 17 assists.

Turner and Collison provided an early spark to the Pacers' offense, as Indiana jumped out to leads of 7-0 and 16-9. Turner scored nine points on 4-of-6 shooting in the first quarter, while Collison assisted on seven of Indiana's first nine field goals.

"I was in a good rhythm," Turner said. "I know I'm more than capable of knocking down that (outside) shot."

The Wizards answered, however, connecting on 5-of-6 3-point attempts in the opening frame to take a 33-29 advantage into the quarter break.

But Washington suffered a significant blow in the first quarter. Already without All-Star guard John Wall due to left heel soreness, the visitors lost starting forward Otto Porter Jr. after just seven minutes due to a sore right knee.

The two teams went back-and-forth in the second quarter, but the Blue & Gold closed the half strong. Indiana reeled off 10 unanswered points over the last three minutes, but it was Turner's defense that stood out.

The 22-year-old center swatted Wizards shots on three consecutive possessions, the first block a rejection so violent that Wizards Bradley Beal had to be helped back up off the floor by teammate Austin Rivers.

"He's got to be in consideration for Defensive Player of the Year right now," Collison said about Turner's rim protection. "This is unbelievable. I haven't played with a big that protects the paint like that since (two-time first-team All-Defensive selection) DeAndre (Jordan)."

The hosts took a 59-50 lead into halftime and blew the game open after the break. The Pacers outscored Washington 28-12 over the first eight minutes of the third quarter to push the lead to 25.

Tyreke Evans and Turner each scored nine points over that stretch, while Collison dished out five more assists.

Still, the shorthanded Wizards mounted a charge from there, closing the quarter with a 13-0 run to trim the deficit to 87-75 heading into the fourth quarter.

Washington scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to make it a six-point game with 9:54 remaining and forcing Pacers head coach Nate McMillan to take a timeout.

Turner finally stopped the bleeding by rolling in a hook shot with 9:31 to play. His basket snapped a 6:34 scoreless stretch during which the Pacers missed nine shots and committed seven turnovers.

"We started to make some shots and all of a sudden we started to play to the scoreboard," McMillan said. "And we started jacking a couple shots and they got aggressive, put their head down and started to attack. They started to pick up and pressure us defensively and started having turnovers, and it kind of snowballed."

The Wizards continued to rally, as Beal scored seven of eight unanswered points for Washington to make it a one-point game with 4:45 to play.

Collison buried a big 3-pointer 40 seconds later to make it a two-possession game. Then after a Tomas Satoransky bucket, Thaddeus Young dished to a cutting Bojan Bogdanovic, who threw down a left-handed slam in traffic.

Turner came up big on the next two defensive possessions, meeting Beal at the rim on the first and then corralling an important rebound on the next, before drilling a mid-range jumper to push the lead back to 105-99 with 1:51 remaining.

The Pacers held on the rest of the way, allowing the partisan crowd at Bankers Life Fieldhouse to let out a collective sigh of relief.

Bogdanovic had 22 points for Indiana, going 8-for-15 from the field and 3-for-5 from 3-point range. Evans added 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting, Young tallied 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Domantas Sabonis added 11 points off the bench.

Beal scored 19 of his game-high 30 points in the second half for Washington. Kelly Oubre Jr. added 23 points off the bench in the loss on 9-of-14 shooting.

The Pacers will close out a three-game homestand on Wednesday night against the Milwaukee Bucks before heading to Philadelphia for a nationally televised showdown with the 76ers on Friday night.

Photo Credit: NBAE/Getty Images

Collison's 17 assists were one more than his previous best with the Pacers, set on Oct. 24, 2017 at Minnesota. It tied him for 10th-most assists by a Pacers player in an NBA game and was three shy of his overall career high, set as a rookie with New Orleans on March 8, 2010.

Turner exceeded his season high by eight points on Monday and pulled down double-digit rebounds for the sixth time in his last 11 games.

The Pacers won despite committing 24 turnovers, one shy of their season high, including 15 after halftime and nine in the fourth quarter.

Indiana shot 53.9 percent from the field and went 10-for-20 from 3-point range in the win.

The Pacers outrebounded the Wizards 50-34 overall and 16-8 in the fourth quarter.

"Myles did a hell of a job controlling the paint for us. He erased a lot of shots and altered a lot of shots. He did a great job of controlling the game for us on the defensive end." -Young

"I've got good players on my team. Bojan has it going really good and Myles is a good jump shooter as well. Tyreke, Thaddeus, I have good players. All I have to do is do my part by being aggressive and get them where they want the ball." -Collison on his 17 assists

"These guys came out and tested us in every way possible. We stayed resilient and we made it work." -Turner on holding on for the win

"The way we fought, we've just got to be able to do that throughout the entire game. We were shorthanded, we got in some early foul trouble with our bigs, but we played hard. I give our guys a lot of credit. We could not get a key shot to fall during that last stretch." -Wizards coach Scott Brooks

Collison racked up 16 assists on Monday before committing his first turnover of the night. Dating back to his final assist in a win over Chicago on Dec. 4, Collison had a streak of 31 consecutive assists over four games without a turnover.

The Pacers wrap up a three-game homestand when they host Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday, Dec. 12 at 7:00 PM ET. Find Tickets »

Jack's Donuts: Visit your local Jack's Donuts the day after a Pacers victory and mention the Pacers win to receive a free twelve ounce coffee with any purchase. Visit JacksDonuts.com to find the Jack's Donuts nearest you.