High-flying Pacers finding it easy to lean on Hibbert

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana // Indiana coach Frank Vogel found out shortly before tip-off that Philadelphia would be playing without some of their key players.

“It’s tough to play a game when you find out at the last minute that three or four of their top guys are out,” Vogel said. “You’ve got to give the Sixers credit, they played a strong basketball game.”

Just not strong enough to overcome a career game for Roy Hibbert.

Indiana’s star center had a season-high 27 points and added 13 rebounds as the Pacers beat Philadelphia 106-98 on Saturday night.

“He’s been dominant defensively all year, and when we need him to step up on the offensive end, he does,” Vogel said.

Hibbert had career highs in free throws made and attempted while going 13 of 16 from the line.

“I shoot free throws after practice, before practice. It’s part of being confident,” Hibbert said.

Spencer Hawes, who came in as the Sixers’ second-leading scorer, didn’t dress because of a sore left knee. Tony Wroten (back) and Thaddeus Young (personal) didn’t travel with the team to Indianapolis, leaving the Sixers with just nine players in uniform.

There wasn’t any change in game plan for Hibbert to make up for Hawes’ absence, Vogel said.

“We’ve been struggling to get Roy the ball,” Vogel said. “He’s doing all the dirty work for us, protecting the rim, rebounding, offensive rebounding. We haven’t been sharp in our post game the last couple games.”

It didn’t matter much in the first half, as the Sixers kept within seven points of the East’s top team. The teams were tied 11 times in the first half and the lead changed 15 times, with Indiana able to build just a 56-52 halftime lead.

The Sixers kept it close in the third quarter, even as both teams struggled to find the basket. Philadelphia shot just 7 of 24 from the field and Indiana missed seven straight shots at one point. The Pacers were 7 of 17 from the field but closed the quarter with a 9-2 run to take a seemingly safe 77-66 lead.

“They’ve played together a lot,” Sixers coach Brett Brown said. “There’s a trust factor that they have, that they know what’s going on behind their first line of defence.

“We just couldn’t convert some of those shots. Some of them were good looks, some of them we just give them credit.”

But the Sixers opened the fourth quarter with a 19-4 run to take an 85-81 lead. Hibbert completed a three-point play to tie the game at 86 with 6:18 to play.

“He’s always been there for us, he’s always anchoring the paint for us,” said Paul George, who had 19 points. “We know that if anything is breaking down, we have the best rim protector.”

Hibbert then rebounded Evan Turner’s miss and George hit a 3-pointer at the other end to give Indiana a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

“We’re an experienced team. We don’t worry,” Hibbert said of Indiana’s falling behind. “We know that we can finish games.”

Michael Carter-Williams led Philadelphia with a career-high 29 points and Turner had 21 points and 11 rebounds. James Anderson scored 13 in the Sixers’ fifth loss in six games and fourth straight on the road.

“I knew the scoring load would fall on me more tonight without Spencer and Tony and Thaddeus,” Carter-Williams said. “I knew it would be tough for us to get points, so I tried to take more shots and create more shots for myself.”

Lance Stephenson added 18 points and David West had 17 points and 11 rebounds in Indiana’s third straight win, while George Hill finished with 11 points. The Pacers are 7-0 at home.

“We knew this would be a very tough game,” West said. “We took care of business when we had to.”

This marked just the fourth time this season that Indiana led at halftime.

OTHER SATURDAY RESULTS

Heat 101, Magic 99

Although it was much closer, the Miami Heat beat the Orlando Magic for the second time in four days, winning 101-99 at American Airlines Arena.

The Heat (10-3) have won six games in a row, and their three losses are by a combined total of six points. They beat the Magic 120-92 on Wednesday.

Orlando fell to 4-8, including 0-5 on the road. The Magic and the Utah Jazz (0-8) are the only winless road teams in the NBA so far this season.

Wizards 98, Knicks 89

Point guard John Wall continued his scoring surge with 31 points and the Washington Wizards extended the New York Knicks’ losing streak to five games with a 98-89 victory.

Forward Martell Webster scored 19 points and center Marcin Gortat had 16 points and 17 rebounds for the Wizards (5-8), winners of three of four games this week.

Washington took the lead for good during a 19-7 third quarter run and fended off New York’s attempted rallies in the fourth. Last season the Wizards did not pick up their fifth win until January 7 after an infamous 4-28 start.

Clippers 103, Kings 103

All things considered, the Los Angeles Clippers figured they caught a break playing the struggling Sacramento Kings on the front end of a back-to-back, two-game set that culminates with a visit from the Chicago Bulls on Sunday.

Only someone forgot to tell the Kings they were playing tune-up in the Clippers’ weekend production. As a result, what was supposed to be a minimum day for Los Angeles ended up a much more complicated ordeal than originally planned.

The Clippers finally gathered themselves thanks to a careless foul by Kings center DeMarcus Cousins and some late-game heroics by point guard Chris Paul to pull out a 103-102 win.

Rockets 112, Timberwolves 101

Guard Aaron Brooks scored a season-high 26 points off the bench as the Houston Rockets drained 17 3-pointers in a 112-101 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves at Toyota Center.

The Rockets (9-5) relied on a balanced scoring attack to offset another fabulous performance from Timberwolves forward Kevin Love, whose 27 points and 15 rebounds paced a resilient effort bolstered by the Rockets’ miscues. Minnesota scored 37 points off 24 Houston turnovers.

Celtics 94, Hawks 87

Guard Jordan Crawford had 12 points and 10 assists to help the Boston Celtics erase a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter and end their losing streak at six games with a 94-87 win over the Atlanta Hawks.

Atlanta led 76-64 with 11:14 remaining but went cold from the field and watched Boston battle back to take the lead for good at 86-85 on a pair of free throws by forward Brandon Bass with 3:12 left.

The Celtics (5-10) had six players, including all five starters, in double figures. Bass scored 17, guard Jeff Green scored 16 and forward Jared Sullinger scored 15 and secured a team-high nine rebounds.

Spurs 126, Cavaliers 96

Guard Danny Green had 17 points to lead the San Antonio Spurs to their 10th straight victory with an easy 126-96 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Off to their best start in franchise history, the Spurs (12-1) had four other players in double figures, including starting guard Tony Parker with 12 points and center Tiago Splitter with 10.

Guards Patty Mills and Marco Belinelli came off the bench to score 15 and 10 respectively for the Spurs, who have won their last eight games by an average 15-point margin.

Bobcats 96, Bucks 72

Five Bobcats scored in double figures as Charlotte rolled to a 96-72 victory over the Bucks at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

Center Al Jefferson led Charlotte with 19 points on 8 of 15 shooting, pacing a Bobcats offence that shot just under 50 percent from the field.

Guard Gerald Henderson added 17 points while forward Josh McRoberts had 12 with nine rebounds. Guard Ramon Sessions had 13 off the bench and guard Kemba Walker scored 11 for Charlotte, which had lost three of their last four.

Nuggets 102, Mavericks 100

Forward Kenneth Faried had 18 points and 14 rebounds, including a key board on Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki’s miss with 14 seconds left, and the Denver Nuggets held on to beat the Mavericks 102-100.

Guard Ty Lawson had 20 points for the Nuggets, who blew a 16-point lead but recovered in the final minute.

Nowitzki finished with a game-high 27 and guard Monta Ellis scored 25 for the Mavericks, who had their four-game winning streak snapped.

Trail Blazers 113, Warriors 101

Backup center Joel Freeland hit consecutive jumpers to break a 92-all tie and the Portland Trail Blazers overcame the ejection of two of their guards to record a 10th consecutive victory, 113-101 over the Golden State Warriors.

Forward LaMarcus Aldridge had 22 of his 30 points and 12 of his game-high 21 rebounds in the second half as the Trail Blazers (12-2) rallied from 14 down to hand Golden State their third consecutive defeat.