Pacers Find Enough Energy to Pull Out Win

By ESPN

The Indiana Pacers finally found a solution to their struggles Monday night.

Turn up the defensive intensity and share the ball.

The combination worked perfectly. Victor Oladipo scored 25 points, Myles Turner added 22 and the Pacers had just enough energy to make two late charges in a 105-96 victory over the Charlotte Hornets.

"Everybody contributed," Oladipo said. "It's a collective team thing. We had to do a great job of playing team defense, making them work -- I think we did a great job of that tonight."

Whether it was fatigue from playing their fourth game in six nights or the Hornets' slower, half-court style, the Pacers didn't look like themselves most of the night.

For more than three quarters, their preferred up-tempo style slowed down and their energy level seemed to be low.

All that changed in the fourth quarter when everyone started playing their part.

Six players scored in double figures, including Thaddeus Young with 16 points and Darren Collison with 13. Domantas Sabonis had his 12th double-double this season with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Collison had six assists, backup point guard Cory Joseph added five and, of course, Lance Stephenson provided a late burst of energy as he wound up with 10 points.

The result: Indiana won its second straight and fourth in five games.

"We finally found our groove in the fourth and wore them down," Young said. "Defensively, we got into them more, pushed up on the ball, got a few steals, forced them into some bad shots and just played with a lot of energy and passion."

The difference showed.

Charlotte scored only 14 points over the final 10 minutes and 18 in the fourth quarter, losing its second in a row.

Kemba Walker led the Hornets with 23 points, making a trio of 3-pointers. Dwight Howard had 22 points and 11 rebounds but took only three shots in the second half. Nicolas Batum made five 3s and scored 22 points.

After Oladipo made a 19-footer with 9:50 to go, the Pacers didn't look back. Sabonis scored Indiana's next five points and when the 13-4 spurt ended with Sabonis' 20-footer, the Pacers led 94-86 with six minutes remaining.

Then Turner's 3 spurred a 7-0 run, giving the Pacers a 103-89 advantage with 2:46 left. Charlotte never recovered.

"Their defense was really good and we didn't respond well," Hornets coach Steve Clifford said.

Monday, January 29 Scoreboard

Indiana 105, Charlotte 96

Atlanta 105, Minnesota 100

Memphis 120, Phoenix 109

Milwaukee 107, Philadelphia 95

Miami 95, Dallas 88

Boston 111, Denver 110

Tuesday, January 30 Schedule (All Times Central)

Oklahoma City at Washington, 6 p.m.

Brooklyn at New York, 6:30 p.m.

Minnesota at Toronto, 6:30 p.m.

Cleveland at Detroit, 7 p.m.

Orlando at Houston, 7 p.m.

Sacramento at New Orleans, 7 p.m.

Denver at San Antonio, 7:30 p.m.

Golden State at Utah, 8 p.m.

Portland at Los Angeles Clippers, 9:30 p.m.