Pacers finish off Wizards, will face Heat next
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E-mail Xinhua, May 16, 2014
The Indiana Pacers defeated the Washington Wizards 93-80 on Thursday to seal a spot in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals.
David West had a game-best 29 points for the Pacers, along with six rebounds and four assists. Lance Stephenson made eight out of his 13 shots to gather 17 points. Paul George got 12 points. Roy Hibbert and George Hill had 11 points each.
It was the second straight time for the Pacers to advance to the Conference Finals. They would meet the defending champion Miami Heat, also the same as the last same, but this time the Pacers got the home advantage of the best-of-seven series.
The Wizards enjoyed their best playoff win in Game Five, beating the Pacers with a 23-point margin. The Wizards also out-rebounded the Pacers 62-23, marking the largest playoff rebounding margin since 1960.
Both teams started with the regular lineup, and both wanted to put pressure on the opponents' painting area. Gortat scored four to earn an early lead for the Wizards, only to see the Pacers take back the lead 16-10 after consecutive baskets from Hibbert and Paul George.
The first quarter ended with the Pacers leading 29-23. Andre Miller didn't save the Wizards in the second quarter, in which the Pacers' bench established a ten-point lead. The Wizards were unable to force effective attack on the Pacers' defense, allowing the Eastern top seed a 12-point lead by the end of the first half.
The Pacers extented the lead to as many as 16 points in the second half, but the Wizards managed to come back and retake the lead 74-73 in the final period. The Pacers made a response in time, delivering a 17-2 run to seal the victory.
Marcin Gortat had a team-best 19 points for the Wizards. Bradley Beal and Nene had 16 and 15 points respectively.
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