David West guides Indiana Pacers to a 96-89 victory over the winless Washington Wizards: NBA Recap
David West scored his season best 30 points and grabbed 8 rebounds as the Indiana Pacers dropped the Washington Wizards 96-89 Monday night. The Wizards went 0-9 with this defeat, their worst start of the season.
Roy Hibbert finally snapped out of his early season slump and posted 20 points with 12 rebounds while George Hill chipped in with 12 points.
Wizards scored the bulk of their points through their bench as Bradley Beal and Kevin Seraphin added 18 and 13 points respectively. They were visibly missing their point guard John Wall, out with a knee injury, as they remained the only team without a victory this season.
Two Trevor Ariza free throws had the Washington on 4-7 before the Pacers went on an 8-0 run for a 15-4 lead. They started snowballing in the first period and a Hibbert jumper pushed their lead to 21-6. A Green jumper cemented Pacers’ authority as they went 26-7 as there was some booing for the Wizards by their fans. The Wizards closed the period trailing by 13-28.
Pacers were looking strong and a Green jump shot pushed their lead to 32-13. The Wizards tried to come back in the game as they went for a 9-3 run, capped off by an A.J. Price shot from behind the arc, reducing the deficit down to 22-35. Washington kept chasing the Pacers and were trailing 32-40 after a couple of Jordan Crawford free throws. The Pacers however managed to retain their double digit lead and were ahead 50-41 by halftime.
It was 49-59 early in the third period when the Pacers went for a 10 for none burst to jump up 69-49. But the Wizards were not to be silenced that easily and they responded with an 18-2 run to close off the third quarter trailing 71-67.
Pacers kept some distance between themselves and the Wizards early on in the final period and were up 79-72 after a David West layup. But the Washington were desperate. A Beal three pointer followed by a Shaun Livingston layup reduced the deficit down to 79-82. West tipped one in for the Pacers to put them up 86-79 but Washington then went for a 6-0 run that made it a one point game at 85-86.
The Pacers however, did not let the lead slip out of their hands and a West jumper put them up 94-89 with less than 36 seconds to go. They went on to win 96-89.
Pacers had 20 turnovers compared to 10 by the Wizards but the hosts failed to capitalize on the opportunity. Both teams had a poor shooting night from downtown; the Wizards shot 23.5 percent while the Pacers shot only 15.8 percent from the three point range.
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