Pacers pull away in fourth to pound Pelicans

[February 23, 2019]  Tyreke Evans gave Indiana the lead for good with a 3-pointer late in the third quarter and the Pacers followed by scoring the first eight points of the final period to begin to pull away, leading to a 126-111 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night in Indianapolis.

In winning for the seventh time in their last eight games, the Pacers led for a total of just 14 seconds before Evans hit his tiebreaking 3-pointer with 3.0 seconds remaining in the third period for a 97-94 lead.

Domantas Sabonis opened the fourth quarter with a dunk, Evans added a three-point play and Bojan Bogdanovic drilled a 3-pointer in the 8-0 burst that opened a 105-94 advantage just 1:55 into the period.

The Pelicans got no closer than seven the rest of the way and lost for the sixth time in their last nine games.

Embattled big man Anthony Davis had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Pelicans, but was limited to just 20 minutes. He made 6 of his 11 shots.

Wesley Matthews hit six 3-pointers to account for a majority of his team-high 24 points for the Pacers, who completed a two-game, season-series sweep. Indiana won 109-107 at New Orleans earlier this month.

The Pacers made 14 3-pointers in the game, outscoring the Pelicans 42-24 from beyond the arc.

Sabonis had a team-high 13 rebounds as part of a double-double with 18 points for Indiana, while Bogdanovic (20 points), Evans (17), Thaddeus Young (16) and Darren Collison (10) also scored in double figures.

Collison completed a double-double with a game-high 12 assists, while Kyle O'Quinn grabbed 10 rebounds to go with eight points.

Cheick Diallo had 16 points and a career-high 18 rebounds for the Pelicans. The rebound total was two more than his previous best of 16 recorded in April 2017 at Portland.

Pacers guard Tyreke Evans (12) signals a three pointer after the Pacers made a 3 point shot against the New Orleans Pelicans during the fourth quarter at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Julius Randle and Elfrid Payton had 15 points apiece, Jrue Holiday 14 and E'Twaun Moore 12 for New Orleans, which led by as many as 20 points in the second quarter.

The Pelicans never trailed in the first half, getting eight points from Davis while going up by as many as 15 in the first period. But after building a 71-58 halftime lead, the Pelicans were outscored 68-40 the rest of the way.

The Pacers outshot the Pelicans 47.3 percent to 46.2 percent for the game.

--Field Level Media

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