Pacers Fail To Close Out Spurs; Lose 106-100

The Indiana Pacers failed to close out the San Antonio Spurs on the road and lost by a final score of 106-100.

San Antonio, TX – The Indiana Pacers were looking to come up with another huge win on the road without quite a few of their key players, and they had a good chance to do so. They led by five points with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, but went as cold as a team can be on offense the rest of the way. Indiana missed key free throws and they couldn’t hit a shot from the field either and came up short by a final score of 106-100.

Needless to say, it was disappointing that they were unable to come up with the victory. They put themselves in a great position halfway through the fourth quarter, and then completely stopped playing the way that had put them in that position. It simply was a sign of young players and a team that didn’t have their leaders.

Despite the loss, Rodney Stuckey came through with his best game as a member of the Pacers. He scored 22 points on 9-20 shooting, and also grabbed four rebounds as well as dishing out four assists. Those numbers are great, and he is showing exactly what Larry Bird saw in him when the Pacers originally signed him following the loss of Lance Stephenson in free agency.

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Luis Scola was the second leading scorer for the Pacers with 13 points, and also grabbed six rebounds. Chris Copeland came off of the bench to score 12 points for the Pacers, while A.J. Price also played a solid game off of the bench with 11 points and five assists. Solomon Hill was the only other double digit scorer for the Pacers with 10, and Lavoy Allen had a nice game with eight points and nine rebounds.

Manu Ginobili came up with a monster performance for the Spurs, scoring 28 points off of the bench on 10-19 shooting. He couldn’t be stopped by the Pacers’ defense, and came up with big plays down the stretch of the game. Both Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard scored 21 points each, and Tim Duncan scored 17 points to close out the Spurs’ double figure scorers.

This certainly wasn’t a game that the Pacers were expected to compete in, but once again their effort was undeniable. They did everything they could against the defending NBA champions, and nearly came away with a huge win on the road. Indiana will be able to win this type of game later on in the season when they get their leaders and more consistent offensive players back on the court.

Indiana’s next game will be against the Orlando Magic on Friday night, which is the targeted return date for power forward David West.