ninth of the year, to tie the game in the seventh inning. | Forum
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Jul 20 '18
INDIANAPOLIS -- The Pacers arent letting anybody keep up with the Georges. Thaddeus Young Jersey . Certainly not Monday night. George Hill took care of the early work, scoring a season-high 26 points, and Paul George closed it out by scoring 11 of his 26 points during a decisive second-half stretch that finally allowed Indiana to pull away from Minnesota 98-84 for yet another win. "We just dont rely on one person to do all the work," Hill said. "We have multiple people who can make plays, who can play defence and things like that. We just continue to work together. We dont know whos night its going to be. All we know is we have one common goal and thats to win the game." The Pacers (13-1) are doing that at a record-setting pace this season. After opening with nine straight wins, theyve followed their only loss with four more wins. Theyre now a perfect 8-0 at home for the first time in franchise history, off to the best start in franchise history and 3-0 against the Western Conference. Mondays win followed a familiar script. Indiana used a suffocating defence, a balanced offence and a strong bench and to put away scrappy Minnesota (8-8). But Hill and George proved to be too much. Hill dominated the first half, scoring 12 points as the Pacers took a 20-6 first-quarter lead. George took care of the rest, spurring the game-changing run that finally gave Indiana some breathing room in the second half. Together, they went 19 of 29 from the field and 7 of 8 on 3-pointers. Hill finished with seven assists, five steals and three rebounds, while George had eight rebounds, four assists and four steals. "Its great, were playing together, were making smart plays," Lance Stephenson said after scoring 13 points. "We have so many weapons, you dont know who is going to have a big night." Minnesota had other problems, too. The NBAs best defensive team essentially turned the high-scoring Timberwolves into a three-man show. Kevin Love finished with 20 points and 17 rebounds, Nikola Pekovic had 18 points and 11 rebounds and Kevin Martin added 18 points. Minnesotas other five players combined for 28 points and 19 rebounds -- not nearly enough to turn back the white hot Pacers. What happened? Minnesota shot 32.6 per cent from the field, was 3 of 19 on 3-pointers, had 19 turnovers and went 8 1/2 minutes without a basket. "We shot the ball poorly, plain and simple, and you are not going to win that many games doing that," Love said. "We knew it was going to be a physical game and we tried to be physical right back. Then they went on that one run and were able to keep their distance." Playing short-handed didnt help. Chase Budinger missed the game with a left knee injury, Shabazz Muhammad sat out with a sprained right ankle and Ronny Turiaf missed the game with a right elbow injury. Derrick Williams, the former No. 2 overall draft pick, also did not play as trade rumours swirled. During the game, word leaked that Minnesota agreed to send Williams to Sacramento for Luc Mbah a Moute -- coach Rick Adelman said after the game that he wasnt aware of a deal. But the bigger problem was containing the one-two punch of Hill and George. Hills fast start helped Indiana take the 14-point lead midway through the first quarter and forced the Timberwolves to spend the rest of the night playing catch-up. Minnesota didnt tie the score again until Pekovic hit two free throws with 4:53 left in the third quarter. Minnesota then took the lead twice for a total of 22 seconds, the second time coming when Kevin Martin made three throws to give the Timberwolves a 66-65 edge with 3:09 left in the quarter. Thats when George kicked things into high gear. He drove to the basket, drawing a foul and made two free throws. He came up with a steal on the ensuing possession and drove in for a highlight-reel windmill dunk to make it 69-66. When the Pacers missed their next shot, George grabbed the loose ball and made a nifty behind-the-back pass to David West, who jogged in for a layup. West closed out the 8-0 portion of the run with a 6-foot runner to give Indiana a 73-66 lead late in the third. Then George opened the fourth quarter with two more baskets and when the 17-4 run ended, Indiana led 82-70. Minnesota never got within single digits again. "We get stops, we get blocks, we get steals, creating easy offence on the other end and thats really the recipe to separate from other teams," George said. "We knew we needed some more energy and we needed to click more offensively. But the defensive end is where we kind of came down and really took care of business." NOTES: Minnesotas lowest previous point total was 92 in a loss at Cleveland on Nov. 4. ... ... Former Purdue star Robbie Hummel made his first trip back to his home state as an NBA player and finished with zero points and three rebounds. ... Indiana won its fifth straight home game over the Timberwolves. ... Indiana Hoosiers coach Tom Crean and NFL sacks leader Robert Mathis both attended the game. Lance Stephenson Jersey . -- The Sacramento Kings and guard Jimmer Fredette have completed a buyout of his contract, clearing the way for the former BYU sensation to become a free agent. Reggie Miller Jersey . The Toronto Argonauts running back hurt his left ankle during the teams practice Friday afternoon at Rogers Centre.After losing their last two series, the Toronto Blue Jays will try to claim their weekend set with the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on Saturday afternoon. Drew Hutchinson will take the mound for the visitors in the second contest of the three-game series. He has been solid for the Blue Jays this season, boasting a 3.86 ERA with 93 strikeouts to just 33 walks, but he has just a 6-7 record to show for it. Hutchinson has lost three of his last four starts, including on July 6 when he allowed eight hits and three earned runs in 5 2/3 innings of work against the Athletics. Despite allowing 10 hits, seven walks and five earned runs in 5 1/3 innings against Tampa Bay this season, Hutchinson is 2-0 against the AL East rivals. With David Price battling illness, Jake Odorizzi will move up a day to start against the Blue Jays. Tampa Bay is hoping Price will be well enough to pitch Sundays finale. The right-handed Odorizzi had a two-decision winning streak halted on Monday with a 6-0 loss to Kansas City. He yielded only two runs over six innings however, striking out eight batters while falling to 4-8 with a 4.10 ERA on the season. Odorizzi will make just the second start of his career versus the Blue Jays, getting a no-decision against them prior after allowing three runs over five innings. The Blue Jays captured a victory in thrilling fashion on Friday night. With the game tied at 5-5 in the ninth, Steve Tolleson, a late replacement forr the injured Munenori Kawasaki, put Toronto up with a two-run single. Myles Turner Jersey. Jose Bautista added an RBI single of his own, and Casey Janssen closed the door in the ninth for his 14th save to lift the road team to an 8-5 win. "We needed that one," Toronto manager John Gibbons said. "The way things have been going then to blow a comfortable lead, (losing) would have been tough." Jose Reyes collected three hits out of the leadoff spot to go with two runs scored and two RBI. Bautista had two RBI to give him 54 on the season. Aaron Loup (3-2) earned the win in relief after starter Mark Buehrle went five innings allowing nine hits and two earned runs. "Im frustrated with myself," said Buehrle, an AL All Star. "To go five innings, thats not really called for. I need to go deeper into games to give us a chance to win." Chris Archer was bailed out of a poor start for Tampa Bay, leaving after five innings with a no-decision after surrendering six hits, three walks and five runs. Grant Balfour (0-3) yielded five base runners in just a third of an inning in the loss. Sean Rodriguez belted a three-run homer, his ninth of the year, to tie the game in the seventh inning. Ben Zobrist, Logan Forsythe and Brandon Guyer all added two hits in the losing effort. Toronto has won four in a row versus Tampa Bay and six of eight in the season series.China Jerseys Wholesale Cheap Jerseys Throwback China NFL Hoodies NFL Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Autographed Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Jerseys From China ' ' '
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