INDIANAPOLIS: Paul George tallied 24 points and six assists as the Indiana Pacers pounded reigning NBA champion Miami 107-96 yesterday in the opening game of their Eastern Conference final series.
The Pacers started quickly by draining six of their first seven three-point attempts en route to a wire-to-wire victory to begin the best-of-seven series against the two-time defending National Basketball Association champions.
“We have been struggling in the opening games of play-off series at home,” George said. “
“If we were to lose the first game against a great club like the Miami Heat it would have made this a very long series.
“We came out with a great urgency to get this one.”
The Pacers shot 59 percent from the field in the first half to lead 55-45 at half-time in front of a crowd of 18,165 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Indiana continued to dictate the pace in the second half, leading by as much as 19 in the third quarter.
This is a rematch of last year’s conference championship, which was won in seven games by the Heat. Miami also defeated Indiana in the quarter-final round of the 2012 play-offs. Game two is tomorrow in Indianapolis.
The winner of this series will play either San Antonio or Oklahoma City in next month’s NBA finals.
Roy Hibbert and David West each scored 19 points for the Pacers, whose entire starting five finished in double figures. Hibbert also had nine rebounds and three assists in the victory as the Pacers moved to 6-0 in this year’s playoffs when Hibbert scores 10-or-more points.
Lance Stephenson posted 17 points, eight assists and four rebounds and George Hill added 15 points for the Pacers, who improved to 4-4 at home in the play-offs.
The Pacers ended up shooting 42.1 percent from three-point range yesterday.
“We moved the ball. We shared it and we played with energy,” George said.
“We didn’t let the ball stay stagnant. REUTERS
