Defense dominates as Pacers rout Jazz, 104-84

Gerald Green totaled 21 points, while Paul George and George Hill each added 20 as the Indiana Pacers dominated the Utah Jazz, 104-84, at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

George also had 11 rebounds and four blocks, as the Pacers won for the fourth time in five games.

Indiana outscored the Jazz, 22-8, in the second quarter to expand their lead to 53-31 at the break. The Pacers led by as many as 32 in the third quarter.

Derrick Favors had 16 points and nine rebounds for Utah, which lost for the third time in four contests. The Jazz shot a paltry 37.2 percent, including a dismal 3-of-20 in the second quarter.

Randy Foye’s 3-pointer had the Jazz in front, 14-12, but Indiana went ahead for good by netting the next nine points, finished by a 3-ball from Green. Hill’s short jumper expanded the difference to 31-20 with 1:19 to go in the period.

The Jazz missed all eight of their 3-point shots in the second quarter. George and Hill each scored eight points, with the players combining to go 7-of-7 from the field in the quarter, helping the Pacers take a commanding advantage.

The Pacers were up 73-41 with 4:42 left in the third quarter following a David West turnaround jumper.

Indiana went into the final quarter up 25 and the margin never dipped below 20 after that point.

Notes: The Pacers have won two in a row against the Jazz for the first time since a seven-game streak in the series that ran from March 2003 to December 2005 … West had 13 points and Roy Hibbert 12 for the Pacers, who shot 51.3 percent from the field … Alec Burks had 12 points and Mo Williams 11 for Utah.

POSTGAME QUOTES

Frank Vogel
“Clearly last night’s loss to the Bucks didn’t sit well with our guys. They came out focused. Great defense led to good offensive flow. Defense led to offense a lot for us tonight. (On Gerald Green) We just want him to be aggressive. That’s how guys get out of shooting slumps, not by being tentative. (The bench) We’ve strung together a few solid performances. We have to keep it going. (On containing Utah’s front court) We knew we had to man up one on one and give early help.”

Paul George
“The way we came out last night was very unlike us, especially with the way we’ve been playing lately. We knew we had to step it up, and I took it personally to try to get going and try to be aggressive at both ends. (On Gerald Green) He played well. He was aggressive. That’s the Gerald this whole club knows. When he gets aggressive he can really knock shots down.”

David West
“(On the defense) We had them at about 30 percent midway through the third quarter. We finished the third quarter a little more relaxed than we wanted. But for the most part, we were able to remain solid on their bigs. That’s where a lot of their offense comes from. (On the schedule the rest of this week) This is our third back to back in a row. We haven’t had much practice time. Guys just have to be professional about it. I think we’re doing a good job of handling it.”

Gerald Green
“Tonight we just wanted to regain that edge. We just wanted to start that out at the defensive end. It went well for us. (What made the offense work so well?) It was the ball movement. Guys were getting in the paint, making the extra pass. Shots were falling. We did a good job of knocking down open shots, and we ran the floor and got easy baskets. But that comes first with our defense.”

 

Team 1 2 3 4 Score Utah 23 8 20 33 84 Indiana 31 22 23 28 104 Officials:  James Capers, Brent Barnaky, Dick Bavetta Attendance:  13559 Time Of Game: 2:04 Stats: Final

Utah MIN FG FGA 3P 3PA FT FTA OR DR TOT A PF ST TO BL PTS M.Williams 21:24 3 5 0 2 0 0 1 2 3 1 0 0 2 0 6 P.Millsap 22:53 2 7 0 0 3 4 4 5 9 3 3 0 0 1 7 A.Jefferson 22:21 1 8 0 0 2 2 2 4 6 2 4 0 0 1 4 R.Foye 21:46 3 10 1 6 0 0 0 1 1 2 1 1 0 0 7 M.Williams 24:48 5 11 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 4 0 11 D.Favors 27:47 7 13 0 0 2 5 4 5 9 0 3 1 0 3 16 G.Hayward 12:43 2 6 0 1 4 5 0 2 2 1 2 1 5 0 8 D.Carroll 19:16 1 4 0 1 0 0 0 5 5 1 2 1 0 0 2 E.Watson 23:12 1 6 0 1 0 1 1 2 3 4 2 0 2 0 2 E.Kanter 22:59 2 5 0 0 5 6 4 5 9 0 4 0 2 1 9 A.Burks 13:53 5 10 0 1 2 2 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 12 J.Evans 6:58 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 J.Tinsley DNP – Coach’s Decision TEAM TOTALS 240 32 86 2 15 18 25 16 32 48 19 23 4 15 6 84 PERCENTAGES FG: 37.2% 3PT: 13.3% FT: 72% TEAM REB: 12 TOTAL TO: 18

Indiana MIN FG FGA 3P 3PA FT FTA OR DR TOT A PF ST TO BL PTS P.George 33:19 9 13 2 4 0 0 1 10 11 1 4 1 4 4 20 D.West 27:41 5 12 0 0 3 3 2 2 4 3 4 0 1 0 13 R.Hibbert 29:49 5 10 0 0 2 2 0 4 4 4 4 1 2 2 12 L.Stephenson 24:57 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 4 1 2 1 0 0 G.Hill 29:08 8 13 2 2 2 2 0 5 5 5 1 1 1 0 20 G.Green 23:03 7 12 4 6 3 5 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 0 21 T.Hansbrough 15:24 2 5 0 0 1 3 0 1 1 0 3 0 0 0 5 S.Young 14:41 1 2 0 0 0 1 1 2 3 1 1 0 0 1 2 B.Hansbrough 6:52 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 I.Mahinmi 13:16 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 2 2 0 1 0 D.Augustin 12:00 3 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 7 J.Pendergraph 4:55 1 1 0 0 2 2 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 2 M.Plumlee 4:55 0 4 0 0 0 0 2 1 3 1 2 0 1 0 2 O.Johnson DNP – Coach’s Decision TEAM TOTALS 240 41 80 9 16 13 18 6 31 37 21 26 7 15 8 104 PERCENTAGES FG: 51.3% 3PT: 56.3% FT: 72.2% TEAM REB: 8 TOTAL TO: 15

POINTS OFF TURNOVERS Utah 10 Indiana 15 TECHNICALS: Utah 0, Indiana 0

Tags george hill gerald green indiana pacers nba paul george utah jazz