Suns get rare road win against Pacers
INDIANAPOLIS -- The Phoenix Suns haven't been road warriors, but they took advantage of an Indiana Pacers squad missing All-Star Paul George and 3-point shooter C.J. Miles for a 116-96 victory Friday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
The Suns (4-9) won away from home for just the second time in eight games this season, thanks mostly to a 78-35 edge in bench scoring. The visitors trailed only once, by one point for one third-quarter possession, before pulling away in a surprisingly easy rout.
Three reserves led the Suns in scoring as guard Brandon Knight had 17, forward Jared Dudley 16 and forward-center Alan Williams 15.
The Pacers (6-7) fell to 6-2 at home. The common denominator in both of those blemishes has been the absence of George, who rested a sore left ankle. His replacement in the starting lineup, Miles, didn't make it through the first quarter due to a left knee injury.
So in addition to not having George's team-leading 21 points per game, the Pacers lost Miles' 14.1-point average. Miles also entered with 30 3-pointers, which ranked sixth in the NBA and first among players who haven't started half of their team's games. The guard-forward's night ended with two missed shots and no points in 9:05 of playing time.
Center Myles Turner led the Pacers with 22 points and point guard Jeff Teague had 21.
Indiana committed 18 turnovers, nine more than its season average and seven more than Phoenix.
Suns guard Devin Booker and reserve guard Leandro Barbosa each had 13 points.
The Suns started hot with six different players making baskets for a 27-18 lead after an opening quarter of 13-of-25 (52 percent) shooting.
The Pacers closed the deficit to four late in the second quarter but the Suns pulled away for a 57-49 halftime lead.
Indiana had more energy at the outset of the third quarter and tied the game at 59 on Glenn Robinson III's dunk and free throw with just 2:25 elapsed. Robinson had also make a pull-up jumper on the previous possession as part of the 10-2 run.
The Pacers wore Hickory Huskers uniforms as a tribute to the 30th anniversary of the classic basketball movie "Hoosiers." But after briefly taking that one-point lead in the third quarter, Indiana's inspired effort stalled and the hosts never led again. Knight almost single-handedly fended off the Pacers spurt with 12 third-quarter points.
Notes: George (left ankle sprain) played in Wednesday's win over Orlando, but the ankle injury suffered last week is still a problem. The other time he didn't play, the Pacers lost at home to Boston six days ago. G Rodney Stuckey (right hamstring strain) was active after missing the past 10 games. F Rakeem Christmas (assigned to NBA Developmental League) was also a scratch... Suns scratches were C Tyson Chandler (personal reasons), who is not with the team, and F Derrick Jones Jr. (assigned to NBDL). ... Suns G Devin Booker has averaged 27.3 points in road games.