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WASHINGTON - The lumbering, interior-based Indiana Pacers are no more. Now Frank Vogel coaches one of the top 3-point shooting lineups in the NBA. "I think there have been times where the spread lineup has looked really scary, really good," Vogel said before the Pacers met the Washington Wizards Tuesday night.
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Talk about an understatement.
Forward Paul George scored a season-high 40 points as the surging Indiana Pacers sank a franchise-record 19 3-pointers in their 123-106 win over the Washington Wizards.
Forward C.J. Miles established a career high with 32 points and combined with George to dominate from distance. Indiana shot 73.1 percent (19 of 26) from beyond the arc, with its starting forwards doing the damage.
Miles, who set a season high by halftime with 22 points, made 8 of 9 3-pointers, while George finished 7 of 8 and 14 of 19 overall for the Pacers (9-5). The duo combined to make their first 11 3-point attempts.
"We have the potential to explode like we did tonight," Vogel said after the win, "but I didn't expect that, obviously."
Indiana has won nine of its last 11 games, including three straight by a combined 64 points.
The loss ended Washington's three-game winning streak. Guard Gary Neal scored 23 points and guard Bradley Beal had 20 for the Wizards (6-5).
"We ran into a hot tandem there," Wizards coach Randy Wittman said. "A lot of [the shots] I thought we contested. They were three and four feet beyond the 3-point line."
Washington kept pace until Indiana's 12-4 run late in the third quarter put the visitors up 93-81. The lead never dipped below nine points in the fourth quarter. Guard John Wall added 18 points, but committed eight turnovers.
George, who missed all but six games last season after suffering a gruesome leg injury playing with USA Basketball in the summer of 2014, started the decisive run with five straight points. Scorching from all angles, he set a career best with his 10th straight game with at least 20 points. No wonder the five-year veteran thinks he's playing the best basketball of his career.
"I think I am. I feel great out there," George said.
No argument from the Wizards side.
"He's a whole [other] animal," Beal said of George's current level.
The 40 points represented George's personal best since scoring 39 points in Game 4 of the 2014 Eastern Conference playoff series - in Washington.
Asked about his success, George smiled and said, "I don't know. I just love being in D.C. I've got to get the President out one game."
The Pacers and Wizards have undergone notable lineup and tactical changes since meeting in the 2014 playoffs. Instead of classic big-man lineups, both teams are embracing the small ball era.
After starting interior options David West and Roy Hibbert for several seasons, Indiana now begins with four perimeter players. The Pacers entered Tuesday third in the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage at 38.8 percent.
George and Miles finished 10 of 10 combined from beyond the arc in the first half and the Pacers sank 12 of 15 while shooting 60 percent overall from the field
Yet the Wizards only trailed 33-31 after the opening period and 62-61 at halftime.
Neal made five of Washington's 13 3-pointers, but the Wizards shot 4 of 16 in the second half and 33.3 percent from the field.
"We knew something got to give," George said of Indiana's second-half defense. "It couldn't be a game where both teams are trading baskets. At some point we were going to have make our imprint on the defensive end."
Over his last four games, Miles is averaging 23.0 points while shooting 60.6 percent (20 of 33) from beyond the arc.
The Wizards will spend the Thanksgiving holiday on the road after George and Miles carved them up. Tuesday's game opened a stretch of four games in five days.
"We have to let this one go," Wittman said. "I thought our guys played hard. ... We just ran into a hot team shooting the ball."
NOTES: Pacers G George Hill scored 14 points in his return to the lineup after missing three games with an upper respiratory infection. ... Washington's bench scored 51 points for the second straight game. ... Wizards F Nene played despite missing Monday's practice with a sore left calf. ... Washington starts a two-game road swing Wednesday in Charlotte with the first of four meetings against the Hornets. ... Indiana returns home to face the Chicago Bulls on Friday. The Pacers lost 96-95 in Chicago on Nov. 16.
