08-08-2019, 12:52 AM
WASHINGTON -- Paul George forced Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel to leave him on the court. George took -- and made -- the key shots, to the tune of a career playoff-high 39 points. He grabbed rebounds, 12 in all. He guarded the Wizards most dangerous scorer. When there was a loose ball, it was George diving to the floor to collect it. In sum, the tireless George willed the up-and-down Pacers within one victory of a return trip to the Eastern Conference finals, playing every second of the final three quarters as Indiana erased a 19-point deficit to beat Washington 95-92 Sunday night. "I kept wanting to try to get him a rest, and he kept saying, No," Vogel said. "And usually Ill override that, but he kept making big shots, too." Roy Hibbert had 17 points and nine rebounds, continuing his recent surge after a poor-as-can-be, zero-point, zero-rebound showing in Game 1. He responded with 28 points in Game 2, then 14 in Game 3, before helping Indiana win its third consecutive game Sunday, when Hibbert said he got a motivational boost from what he called a heckling fan. "He woke me up," Hibbert said. "He said I was tired. He was saying a lot of obscenities. Im a God-fearing man, so Im not going to go ahead and say what he was saying." After dropping Game 1, the Pacers have won three in a row to go up 3-1 and can close out the best-of-seven series at home Tuesday night. Only eight teams in NBA history have blown that lead. "Weve got a chance to make something happen," said Washingtons Bradley Beal, who was hounded at the defensive end by George and worked hard to get his 20 points. Beal might be right, but Washington better figure out how to limit George, who averaged 14.5 points in Games 1 and 2, but ramped that up with 23 Friday. And he was not about to let Vogel put him on the sideline down the stretch Sunday. In all, George played 46 minutes, and he scored 28 points after halftime. "I already had it in my head that I was pretty much going to go the whole distance," George said. "There was a moment where I was pretty gassed, but that second wind kicked in." The Wizards were up 17 at halftime, then made it 57-38 on Nenes basket to open the third quarter. But Washington showed a propensity this season for blowing double-digit leads -- the Wizards lost 11 games after being up by at least 10 points -- and again fell apart. "We never panicked," Pacers forward David West said. Georges 3 with 5 1/2 minutes left made it 85-79, and another 30 seconds later made it 85-82, giving him seven from beyond the arc, matching a franchise post-season mark held by Reggie Miller and Chuck Person. George also helped the Pacers limit the Wizards to one field goal over the final 7 1/2 minutes. John Wall gave Washington its last lead at 91-90 with about 2 minutes to go. George pushed Indiana back in front with two foul shots, and the Pacers forced a shot-clock violation. Hibbert made a 12-foot turnaround hook shot with 1:02 remaining to put the Pacers up 94-91, and sprinted down the court, his arms spread, his smile wide. Left all alone, Wall passed up an open 3-pointer, instead sending the ball to Beal, who missed a 3 try with under 50 seconds left. "Thats what the play was for, and I made the right decision," Wall said. The Pacers are playing much more like the team that pushed the Miami Heat to seven games in last seasons conference finals, and the one that earned the No. 1 seeding by going 46-13 at the start of this season. Theyre looking less like the bunch that went 10-13 down the stretch this year, then needed seven games to sneak past Atlanta in the first round. "We go through ups and downs, and highs and lows," said Hibbert, who scored two points before halftime, 15 after. Whats clear is this: When Paul is at his best, the Pacers are, too. "Paul is Paul. You know that youre going to get 150 per cent every time hes on the court," Hill said. "He knows hes the go-to guy on this team." NOTES: Georges previous post-season career best was 30 points. ... Wizards coach Randy Wittman likes to call his trio of not-yet-retired reserves -- Andre Miller, 38; Al Harrington, 34; Drew Gooden, 32 -- the "AARP group," but they helped produce a 32-2 bench scoring edge for the hosts. Swell Drinkfles . Its the second of three meetings between these teams this season. Vancouver was a 2-1 winner on home ice December 22nd. Swell Bottle Bestellen . There, I saw a teenaged boy with tears in his eyes, being consoled by strength and conditioning coach Randy Lee. http://www.swellnederlandkopen.com/. Hemsky left the Oilers Tuesday night loss to the Dallas Stars in the second period and did not return. Through 48 games this season, Hemsky has seven goals and a total of 24 points. Swell Nederland . The moves were the first punitive steps taken by the Dolphins since a report on the NFLs investigation of the case was released last week. Investigators found that guard Richie Incognito and two teammates engaged in persistent harassment directed at tackle Jonathan Martin, another offensive lineman and an assistant trainer. Swell Waterfles Nederland . Jeter doubled high off the left-field wall and scored on Jacoby Ellsburys first hit in pinstripes in the fifth. Hiroki Kuroda (1-1) pitched 6 1-3 sharp innings in the Yankees 112th opener in New York. In what manager Joe Girardi said would be a season-long lovefest for Jeter, the shortstop was cheered every step of the way by an adoring crowd of 48, 142 -- even when his double-play grounder back to Orioles starter Ubaldo Jimenez (0-2) scored Solarte in the third inning for the first run.DETROIT - The Detroit Red Wings come-from-behind effort lifted coach Mike Babcock to a new career milestone.Darren Helm and the Red Wings rallied Saturday night to top the New York Rangers 3-2 and secure Babcocks 500th victory.Helms wrist shot past Cam Talbot broke a 2-2 tie midway through the third period and capped a three-goal comeback that lifted the Red Wings to their second straight win. Jimmy Howard had 27 saves.Talbot made 31 saves for the Rangers, who lost after a four-day layoff.Detroit was shorthanded for more than five minutes late in the third after three consecutive penalties, including Kyle Quinceys 4-minute high-sticking offence, but allowed just three shots to keep the lead.That was huge. It showed a lot of character by our guys. A lot of heart, Howard said after his 13th win. We found a way. Thats all that matters.Rangers coach Alain Vigneault saw it differently.Our power play guys had the opportunity to at least tie it up and didnt get it done, he said.Kevin Klein opened the scoring and Rick Nash added his 17 goal to send New York to the first intermission with a 2-0 lead but Detroits Riley Sheahan and Luke Glendening scored a minute apart in the second to tie the score.We were in control of the game, I thought, Rangers defenceman Dan Boyle said. Then they get two goals in I dont know how many seconds.Rangers forward Carl Hagelin received a double-minor penalty early in the first for high-sticking Brendan Smiith but the Red Wings managed just a single shot during the power play.ddddddddddddThe victory followed a familiar script for Detroit, which kept within reach of Atlantic Division leaders Tampa Bay and Montreal despite several games that featured poor starts.Weve been doing a lot of that but weve got to get better in the first period, said Glendening, a fourth-liner who scored for just the third time this season. Its going to catch up to us eventually, having to put so much energy in the second and third periods.Babcocks milestone for wins tied Hall of Famer Toe Blake for 18th on the all-time list.When you start in the league youre hoping to coach 82 games. Just hoping to get through and not get fired. Ive coached a lot of good players, Babcock said. Its been enjoyable.I love it as much and maybe more than the day I started and maybe theyll let me keep doing it.Babcock, the longest tenured coach in the NHL, led Detroit to the 2008 Stanley Cup and has guided Canada to a pair of Olympic gold medals.NotesRangers defenceman Dan Boyle returned after missing two games with an illness while forward Tanner Glass missed his fourth straight game with the mumps. ... Detroit forward Justin Abdelkader (shoulder) was scratched for the third straight night. ... Babcocks milestone win came in his 895th game behind the bench. Only Hall of Famer and former Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman (825) reached 500 victories in fewer games. ' ' '