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 But after Indiana's 103-98 victory Tuesday night against the
Boston Celtics, George and the Pacers wanted to talk defense.
"Teams that stretch the floor have given us problems, so we had to
guard to win this game," said George, who led all scorers with 25
points. "Our message tonight was, "Guard our guy."
Two George Hill free throws with 7:43 to play began a 6-0 Pacers run
and the Celtics (39-28) never led again. It was only the fourth time
in the past 30 games that Boston was held below 100 points.
Indiana (36-31) won the four-game season series with Boston 3-1.
Monta Ellis added 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the
Pacers. Jordan Hill came off the bench for 15 points and Ian Mahinmi
finished with 13 points and six rebounds.
 The Pacers shot 46.4 percent from the field (39 of 84) and held
Boston to 38.3 percent (36 of 94), including 8 of 32 from 3-point
range.
Isaiah Thomas led the Celtics with 21 points, Jonas Jerebko had 17
and Jared Sullinger added 15 points and 11 rebounds. Marcus Smart
scored 12 points.
"We have been more aggressive lately pressuring the ball," Mahinmi
said when asked what fueled this Pacers' defensive effort. "That
helped us slow the game down."
Indiana coach Frank Vogel enjoyed the effort.
"It wasn't pretty, but Boston is a tenacious defensive team," Vogel
said. "I have a lot of respect for Brad Stevens' team. Offensively,
we were able to build a lead, and Jordan Hill really benefited from
some great reads by Monta Ellis. Jordan is a great finisher around
the rim."
Jordan Hill, like his coach, respects the Celtics and categorized
this as a big victory.
"Boston is a great team that plays really good team ball," Jordan
Hill said. "Down the stretch, we made some big shots and helped each
other out on defense."
The Celtics took a 52-51 lead on Thomas' 3-pointer with 7:12 left in
the third quarter. Thomas scored 16 points in the quarter, but an
Ellis runner in the lane with 0.5 of a second left in the third gave
Indiana a 71-70 advantage with 12 minutes remaining.
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"We had those moments -- that stretch in the first half when we
couldn't score and got down 10 -- but then we started playing great
through the end of the third quarter," Stevens said. "We still were
playing pretty well, but Monta Ellis gave them that shot to kind of
tweak the momentum of the game, and then Indiana just dominated us
in the paint after that.
"What I am discouraged about is that I think we can play with better
purpose and give ourselves a better chance to win. And obviously,
Jordan Hill loves playing against the Celtics. He has a great game
against us every time."
The Celtics' Smart said the outcome can be described simply.
"We got a lot of good shots and had a lot of opportunities, but
obviously, our shots were not falling," Smart said. "No one was
cutting hard, and that allowed them to be right on top of us when we
got the ball. We fell apart."
Led by Mahinmi's nine points, the Pacers grabbed a 43-39 halftime
lead, outscoring the Celtics 23-19 during the second quarter.
Boston, which got 11 from Jerebko and nine from Smart, shot only
34.8 percent from the field (16 of 46) in the first half but
outrebounded Indiana 26-24.
The Pacers trailed 20-13 in the first quarter but led 43-33 in the
second quarter before the Celtics scored the final six points to
pull to within four at intermission.
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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