Pacers fall in Game 1 against Wiz
TYLER SMITH
ISL Correspondent
INDIANAPOLIS — Coming into this playoff series, the last time the Washington Wizards won a game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse was back in 2007, when it was still called Conseco Fieldhouse. The Wizards showed no fear of that drought as they defeated the Pacers 102-96 to take a 1-0 series lead.
Trevor Ariza led the way by shooting 6-of-6 from 3-point range and scoring 22 points on the night.
Washington outrebounded the Pacers by a staggering margin of 53-36. Most notably, they grabbed 17 offensive rebounds and had 19 second-chance points.
“Their bigs manhandled Chicago, and they manhandled us tonight,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said after the loss.
Roy Hibbert was nonexistent on both sides of the ball. He did not score or grab a single rebound. In the same amount of minutes, the Wizards’ Drew Gooden grabbed 13 rebounds and scored 12 points.
After a slow start, the Pacers went on a 9-0 run to start the second quarter. Washington calmed down after a timeout and still managed to tie the second-quarter score and take a 56-43 lead into halftime.
The Pacers had another nice run in the third quarter, but the Wizards were once again able to weather the storm and remain in the lead.
Through eight playoff games, the Pacers have trailed by double digits in seven of them. They’ve been constantly playing from behind.
Paul George had a rough night, shooting just 4-of-17 from the field.
The Pacers have given away home-court advantage in the opening game of each series this postseason. They will once again be in a must-win situation on their home court on Wednesday night.
Follow Tyler Smith on Twitter: www.twitter.com/sports_TYs_20.
