George leads Pacers past Pistons 103-97

[April 24, 2012]  INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Paul George scored 12 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter to help the Indiana Pacers beat the Detroit Pistons 103-97 on Monday night.

George made 13 of 15 free throws and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Pacers. David West scored 20 points and Leandro Barbosa and Tyler Hansbrough added 13 points each for Indiana.

Pacers coach Frank Vogel rested regular starters Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert and George Hill since Indiana is locked into the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Greg Monroe scored 18 points, Brandon Knight had 16 and Tayshaun Prince added 14 for the Pistons.

Detroit held the Pacers to 38 percent shooting, but Indiana forced 18 turnovers and outrebounded the Pistons 56-42. Indiana outscored the Pistons 29-13 from the free-throw line.

A three-point play by Hansbrough gave the Pacers an 87-84 lead in the fourth quarter. George made two free throws, then showed why he was in the slam-dunk contest. He took off from the right side of the paint, pulled the ball back and jammed it through with his right hand to give the Pacers a 91-84 lead with 5:23 to play.

A 3-pointer and a runner by Detroit's Charlie Villanueva cut Indiana's lead to 91-89.

Detroit could have taken the lead in the final minute, but Monroe missed two free throws. Hansbrough was fouled on a putback attempt on the other end, and he made both free throws to give Indiana a 99-96 lead with 26.5 seconds to play.

Monroe was fouled on a drive with 20.6 seconds left. He made the first free throw and missed the second, and George got the rebound. George made two free throws with 19.4 seconds to play to give the Pacers a 101-97 lead. George made two more free throws with 9.6 seconds left.

Indiana led 54-52 at halftime behind 13 points by George.

Jeff Pendergraph dunked on consecutive possessions to give Indiana a 64-58 lead early in the third quarter. Later, on a fast break, Hansbrough dribbled up the middle of the court like a point guard and found Barbosa for a layup to give Indiana a 73-67 lead. A three-point play by Barbosa moments later pushed the lead to nine.

Consecutive 3s by Prince and Knight, and a goaltending violation by the Pacers on a shot by Prince in close cut Indiana's lead to 76-75 at the end of the third quarter.

NOTES: Indiana C Kyrylo Fesenko, who had played 11 minutes all season since being picked up as a free agent at midseason, had four points in 6 minutes. ... Monroe was issued a technical foul in the third quarter. ... Detroit F Jonas Jerebko didn't play for the second straight game. The Pistons are taking a closer look at Austin Daye. ... Indiana's Dahntay Jones made his third start of the season. ... Pendergraph got his first start as a Pacer and registered season highs of 10 points and seven rebounds.

[Associated Press; By CLIFF BRUNT]

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