Young's last-second shot sends Pacers past Wizards
INDIANAPOLIS -- Thaddeus Young sank a driving short jumper with slightly less than a second left to give the Indiana Pacers a 107-105 victory over Washington Wizards on Monday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Washington's Bradley Beal missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Paul George led the Pacers (15-14) with 27 points and teammate Jeff Teague added 23. Myles Turner fouled out with 20 points and eight rebounds.
Beal, who hit both two free throws to narrow the Pacers' lead to 105-103 with 50.1 seconds left, tied the score by hitting a jumper with 15.7 seconds left.
Marcin Gortat contributed 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Wizards (12-15). Teammate John Wall added 19 points.
The Pacers outscored the Wizards 31-22 in the third quarter to break open a halftime lead and take an 88-79 lead. Indiana made 4 of 7 3-pointers in the third quarter and Washington missed all five 3-point shots.
Washington quickly erased its deficit by scoring the first nine points of the fourth quarter to tie it at 88. George's basket made it 90-88 and halted the Wizards' run.
Beal missed a 3-point attempt at the halftime buzzer as the game was tied at 57. Young's tip-in with four seconds left had pulled the Pacers into a tie.
George and Young each hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Pacers a 67-63 lead midway through the third quarter.
Washington made 21 of 43 shots from the field for 48.8 percent compared with Indiana's 20 of 46 (43.5 percent).
Indiana made up the difference at the free throw line, hitting 15 of 18 before intermission. The Wizards were 9 of 11.
The Wizards shot 60.9 percent from the floor in the first quarter to take a 36-29 lead.
Andrew Nicholson hit a 3-pointer to give the Wizards a 47-40 lead with 8:27 to go in the first half. The Pacers answered with a 10-0 spurt to take the lead at 50-47. The game remained tight the rest of the half.
George led the Pacers with 13 points in the first half. Wall was high for the Wizards with 12 first-half points.
NOTES: Indiana G/F Glenn Robinson III averaged 11.0 points, 6.8 rebounds and shot 42.9 percent from 3-point range in nine previous starts before Monday. Robinson has been starting in place of G Monta Ellis (sore groin). ... Indiana C Myles Turner scored in double figures in seven straight games with three 20-plus point performances prior to the game. ... Washington coach Scott Brooks, in his first year with the Wizards after seven with the Oklahoma City Thunder, won his 350th NBA game when the host Wizards beat the Los Angeles Clippers 117-110 last Sunday night. Washington G John Wall had his 16th double-double of the season, the 14th of the points-assists variety (28 points, 11 assists). ... Washington C Ian Mahinmi, who spent the previous four seasons with the Pacers, was sidelined with a sore right knee. Mahinmi has only played in one game this season.