LDN - Sports

Pacers pull away from Pistons

[March 09, 2017] INDIANAPOLIS -- When Indiana Pacers veteran power forward Thaddeus Young fell and injured his left wrist during a Feb. 2 victory at Brooklyn, his teammates learned quickly just how difficult he would be to replace.

During the eight games Young missed, the Pacers were 2-6. But he is back now, and his presence certainly is felt.

While Paul George scored 21 points to lead the way, Young made 9 of 14 shots for 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds Wednesday night as Pacers pulled away from the Detroit Pistons for a 115-98 win.

"My wrist is OK, good enough that I can make easy shots," Young said. "Really, we just played our game tonight."

Young, who returned to action Feb. 24, came into the Detroit game averaging 10.8 points and 5.9 rebounds.

CJ Miles added 15 points for the Pacers.

With the victory, Indiana (33-31) avoided slipping to .500 and completed a four-game season series sweep of Detroit (31-33). The Pacers were coming off a 2-3 road trip during which they lost at Miami, San Antonio and Charlotte while winning at Houston and Atlanta.

Indiana now has a two-game lead on Detroit and the Chicago Bulls for the No. 6 playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Tobias Harris came off the bench to score 22 for the Pistons, and Andre Drummond had 14 points and 15 rebounds. Stanley Johnson added 17 points in a reserve role.

"Thad got deep post position tonight, and even with that wrist, those are shots he can make," Indiana coach Nate McMillan said. "We have learned that it's an injury that is not going to heal completely until after the season, so we are letting him do what he can do. He showed tonight just how valuable he is to us. We need him.

"It also was important tonight that we got off to a good start, and then we really got it going in the third quarter. Our offense was solid, we moved the ball well and we shot it well. We had a lot more energy than we had in our loss Monday night at Charlotte."

Indiana shot 50 percent (44 of 88), and Detroit shot 43.8 percent (39 of 89). The Pacers outrebounded the Pistons 46-45.

Monta Ellis added 12 points for Indiana, Glenn Robinson III had 11 and Jeff Teague scored 10.

Detroit coach Stan Van Gundy was blunt and to the point.

"They destroyed us," Van Gundy said. "We made some shots, got up one and they just killed us after that. We didn't defend at all. We probably played four good minutes in the game. They scored on anything they wanted."

Indiana fell behind briefly 63-62 in the third quarter before finishing the period on a 28-10 run, getting a 13-point third quarter from George and six points from Miles. The Pacers shot 52.9 percent in the pivotal period and were 10 of 10 from the free-throw line.

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Pacers center Myles Turner (33) and forward Paul George (13) block out for a rebound against the Detroit Pistons at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

"We really wanted a good start," Miles said. "They are a good basketball team, and you don't want to let them punch you in the mouth and get off to a good start. In the third quarter, we figured out a way to get some stops, and guys made some shots."

Indiana shot 52.2 percent from the field during the first half (24 of 46) and made only two turnovers in building a 58-50 lead, getting 12 points from Young, nine from Miles on three 3-pointers and eight points and five rebounds from George.

Harris came off the bench for 18 first-half points to keep the Pistons within striking distance. Detroit shot 42.6 percent (20 of 47) during the first two quarters.

"On the defensive end, we weren't able to get any stops," Harris said. "Our game plan was to get out in transition, but that's tough to do when you are taking the ball out of the basket every time and the other team has a chance to get back and set up on defense."

The Pacers scored the game's first eight points, limited the Pistons to 32 percent first-quarter shooting and led 30-23 through 12 minutes.

NOTES: Detroit's starting five of F Marcus Morris, F Jon Leuer, C Andre Drummond, G Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and G Reggie Jackson were a collective 2 of 13 from the field and scored only seven points during the first quarter. ... Wednesday's game began an 11-game stretch during which the Pacers play seven times in 20 days in Bankers Life Fieldhouse ... With the victory, Indiana swept the four-game season series from Detroit, winning the first three by a combined 41 points. ... The Pacers are 16-2 against the Pacers in the 18 most recent games played in Indianapolis. ... Indiana improved to 23-7 this season when leading at halftime. ... Pacer F Lavoy Allen was listed as questionable with a sore left knee but did see limited action. He scored two points in 12 minutes.

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