Story By: Richard Thomas
Photos By: Sol Tucker
Washington, D.C–
If the term red hot applied to one person or one team, it surely would have applied to the Pacers and Paul George tonight as he scorched the nets for 40 points and helped the Pacers to hit 19 three’s on then night in route to a 123-106 victory tonight over the Wizards.
George’s one miss and only one miss by C.J Miles set a franchise record for the Pacers.
Miles added 32 points, his most since joining the Pacers before the start of last season, as Indiana won for the ninth time in 11 games.
Bradley Beal added 20 points and John Wall scored 18 for Washington, which has lost five of its six games when it allows more than 110 points.
“We need to get better on some of our defensive stops,” said Wizards Head Coach Randy Wittman. They got a lot of open looks for George and Miles and it hurt us late in the game.
None of Washington’s starters began the second quarter. The Wizards’ second group outscored the Pacers 16-10 to take a 47-43 lead before Beal returned with 6:15 left in the half. Nene (sore calf) scored 11 points in 23 minutes after missing practice on Monday. Wall sat even longer during the second before re-entering with 3:41 left in the half.
”We have to let this one go,” said Wizards coach Randy Wittman, who at times this season has criticized his team’s defense. ”I thought our guys played hard, I don’t have a problem with that. We just ran into a hot team shooting the ball.”
Next up a short two game thanksgiving road trip for the Wizards against Charlotte tomorrow night and Boston on Friday, before returning home on Saturday night.
