BOSTON, MA -- The Indiana Pacers got a 107-103 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night, improving their overall record to 6-4 and their home record to 4-2. Indiana has now won six of their last seven games. The Pacers are playing great basketball after starting the season with an 0-3 record.
Paul George led the way for the Pacers offense as he had a game high 29 points. Monta Ellis added 24 points to help fuel the short handed Indiana offense. With the absences of Myles Turner and Rodney Stuckey, it was clear that the Pacers needed a few players to step up and fill their void. Combining for 50+ points was the way that George and Ellis filled that void.
Monta Ellis talked about his impressive offensive performance (via Pacers.com):
"I've been feeling good the last four or five games. Hopefully I can be more consistent with it. The shots were going in tonight."
Paul George has now scored 25+ points in six consecutive games, which is the longest stretch of his career. George passed Anthony Davis on the NBA's scoring leaderboard. George is now averaging 23.8 points per game and he is ranked 8th in the NBA in scoring per game.
Indiana needed an unexpected contributor from their bench since their top two bench scorers were out. Glenn Robinson III was that unexpected contributor. Robinson had 11 points and set his career high in scoring.
The Pacers had a 27-point lead in the third quarter, but they blew it. Minnesota out-scored the Pacers by 26-points to make the score 101-100, but the Pacers were still in the lead. Indiana then out-scored the Timberwolves 7-3 to seal their win. The Pacers have improved their record to two games above .500. That is the first time they've been two games over .500 since the 2013-14 season.