Paul George and Jeff Teague Close Out the Philadelphia 76ers
By Ben Gibson
The Indiana Pacers needed overtime to put away the Philadelphia 76ers, but at least Paul George and Jeff Teague executed in the games final minutes.
The Indiana Pacers won 122-115 over the Philadelphia 76ers, but it wasn’t a victory to be that proud of. The 76ers nearly held on for the win after an 18-4 run put them up 104-98 with 2:46 remaining in the 4th quarter.
The Pacers needed someone to step up and when Indiana leaned heavily on Paul George and Jeff Teague late in the game, they delivered.
Teague hit a pair of free throws, a 3-pointer, and a beautiful floater in traffic to close the gap towards the end of regulation before PG hit a jumper to send the game into overtime.
The floater was perfectly measured by Teague while Myles Turner held Jahlil Okafor in a position where he couldn’t close out enough on Teague without giving up an easy basket. C.J. Miles was also wide open in the corner had Teague needed to kick the ball out. It was a well-executed play when Indiana needed it.
Overtime saw Indiana hold the 76ers to 1 of 10 shooting while PG went 3 of 5 to build up the lead before Teague cemented the win with free throws. Turner had the only other made basket in the extra period as Indiana shot 4 of 9 on field goals.
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Teague led all scorers with 30 points and 9 assists, wasting few of his shots as he went 10 for 16 from the field and 9 of 10 from the free throw line. George had 28 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, a block, and a steal.
The Pacers had not one, but two players to rely on in a clutch situation. To quantify it in numbers, from that 2:46 mark in the 4th when the 76ers led by six the Pacers went on a 7-0 and 8-0 scoring run. In that time frame, PG was 4 of 7 while Teague was 3 of 6, aggressively getting to the foul line where he made 5 of his 6 attempts.
While it was the 76ers on Wednesday, in the future it bodes well for Indiana to have a pair of playmakers.
For the most part, it is hard to fault the starters for this being a close game. They outscored the 76ers 87-71, while also besting them in rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals. The starting five shot an impressive 54.7% from the floor but the bench was outscored 44-35, making the game much closer than needed.
And it wasn’t the entire bench’s fault either. C.J. Miles continued his early season success, shooting 3 of 7 from the field, with all 3 of those made baskets being 3-pointers. Throw in some free throws and you’ve got a decent 12 point outing from Miles.
Al Jefferson is working his way out of an early-season slump but he had his best game of the season as he shot 9 of 12 from the field and scored 18 points in 20 minutes of work.
Next: Should the Indiana Pacers Start C.J. Miles Over Monta Ellis?
The defense is still a wreck as they posted a 104.2 defensive rating in the game, but at least the Pacers found a way to salvage the win thanks to two of their stars.