Pacers 95, 76ers 85
INDIANAPOLIS -- Paul George is proving he can carry the Indiana Pacers in Danny Granger's absence.
George continued his hot scoring spree by scoring 28 points in the Pacers' 95-85 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Friday.
George has scored at least 17 points in each of the past six games. The Pacers are without Granger (knee) until at least February.
Evan Turner led Philadelphia with 22 points.
George Hill added 15 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds for the Pacers.
George got it going in the third quarter when the Pacers needed an offensive spark. He scored 14 points in the quarter to help the Pacers go up by as many as 10 points.
He had one stretch in which he scored eight straight points. His fast-break dunk minutes later pushed the Pacers' lead up to 63-53.
The 76ers went from scoring six points in the final 3.8 seconds of the first half to only scoring six points in the first 6:09 of the third quarter.
The Pacers led by four with 5.1 seconds remaining in the second quarter, but walked off the court trailing by two points at halftime.
George fouled Damian Wilkins in the backcourt, and Wilkins made both free throws. Then David West committed a turnover on the inbounds play, and Turner quickly scored underneath the basket to tie the game.
The Pacers weren't done turning the ball over. West uncharacteristically committed another turnover when he tried to throw a home-run ball from out of the bounds.
Nobody touched the ball, which meant the 76ers got it underneath their basket with a second left.
Spencer Hawes managed to catch the pass and knocked down a 20-foot jumper as time expired to give Philadelphia a 44-42 lead at halftime.
The 76ers didn't back down despite being down by 10 points in the third quarter.
All it took was a technical from Turner to get him going. He was given a technical for arguing a double-dribble violation.
Turner took his frustration out on the Pacers after that.
He made two straight jumpers, including a 3-pointer, to get Philadelphia within three, 86-83.
But then George bailed the Pacers out. He canned a 3-pointer in the right corner, left the game momentarily with cramps, but returned and blocked Hawes' layup attempt.
The Pacers wrapped the game up with a Roy Hibbert dunk off a feed from Hill, followed by a Hill 3-pointer to give them a 94-85 lead with 36.2 seconds left.
NOTES: The 76ers were without point guard Jrue Holiday, the team's leading scorer, because of a sprained right foot. Coach Doug Collins said they're holding Holiday out so his foot does not get worse. Turner slid over from shooting guard and started at point guard...Pacers starting shooting guard Lance Stephenson missed the game with a sprained right ankle. Pacers coach Frank Vogel said there's a chance Stephenson could play in Saturday's game at Detroit. Gerald Green, who has struggled shooting the ball all season, started at shooting guard...Pacers rookie Miles Plumlee will play two games with the Ft. Wayne Mad Ants, the team's D-League affiliate this weekend. Fellow rookie Orlando Johnson was supposed to join him there until Stephenson's ankle injury caused the Pacers to keep him.
