Indiana Pacers Keep it Rolling Against Boston Celtics
Indiana Pacers (22-5) 106
Boston Celtics (12-17) 79
Dec 22, 2013; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert (55) is guarded by Boston Celtics center Vitor Faverani (38) at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Chalk up another win for the Indiana Pacers. Chalk up another rout for the Blue and Gold. This was one of the most complete team efforts I’ve seen the Pacers put together this season. Everything was clicking and this team got another win to put a stamp on the week before a game tomorrow night and some nights off for the Christmas week.
This team was rolling in those second and third quarters as they put up numbers of 32 and 28. That was where the game got out of place for the Celtics, and the lead was never challenged from then on. The Pacers got so much help from individuals in this game as it showed that everyone can step up at different times.
Lance Stephenson went out and got himself another triple double. The third double of the season, and the only player in the NBA with more than one. He did try to force it at times, but this just shows how much Stephenson means to the Pacers in the big picture. The fact that he can score, assist, and rebound truly makes me a vital part of the operation. If he really puts his mind to it, a triple double could be out there any game.
How about the night Danny Granger had? It wasn’t a huge scoring evening, but 4-5 from three point land is saying something about his game. For a guy who gets off to slow starts, it’s great to see that type of shooting. He probably needs to get his legs under him as he did miss some layups at the basket, but if he can provide this production, the bench just became even better.
Roy Hibbert was a force in the middle as the Celtics had no answer for him. At one point in the first quarter, he had 10 of the 18 points for the Pacers. He finished with 15 points on the evening and 12 rebounds to go along with 3 blocks. Just another night at the office for Mr. Hibbert, who like Stephenson should be a double double machine. Tomorrow night with no Brook Lopez on the Brooklyn Nets, he could have another fine evening.
Finally, Paul George had himself a third quarter that featured 18 points of his 24 points on the night. Just look at that production in the third. No wonder he’s the highest scorer in that quarter for the league. He just comes out of halftime ready to go. I’m glad to see him hit for 24 points as he had been struggling to get to the 20 point line. 9-13 from the field is great to see. 2-3 from three point range is good to see. Just like Hibbert, another night at the office.
These individual performances all work together to make the Pacers the team they’re becoming. I knew they had to finish up strong on the week after the two tough losses against Detroit and Miami. I didn’t know if they would be the blowouts that we saw, but even that’s great to see. Maybe the team just needed to regain that focus and work on what made them so dominant early on. This was just another double figures win on the season, which gives them 12 out of the 22 wins. I would say that’s dominant play for the season. Time to keep up and finish off the Brooklyn Nets tomorrow night.