George Hill lifted the Central Division-leading Indiana Pacers over the Charlotte Bobcats 96-88 to register its fourth consecutive win Saturday night.
For the Pacers, top scorer Hill added 19 points, D.J. Augustin scored a season high-tying 18 points, Lance Stephenson had 17 points and seven rebounds, and David West finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high 10 assists. It was West's first triple-double.
''That was a really good win,'' The Associated Press quoted the Pacers coach Frank Vogel as saying. ''A lot of guys stepped up, in particular David West with a triple-double.''
In the absence of Paul George, who could not play against the Bobcats because of illness, the Pacers had a comparatively slow start and with the help of Gerald Henderson's two jumpers, the Bobcats took an early 10-1 lead.
''We struggled to score early, but give them credit, they're a competitive team,'' Vogel said. ''They were doubling David every time he touched the ball, so we knew that would open up some 3s.''
For the Bobcats, Ben Gordon scored 21 points and shot nine out of 14 attempts from the field, Kemba Walker added 16 and had 5-of-9 from the floor, Hakim Warrick had 13 points and seven rebounds, and Henderson finished with 12 points and shot 6-of-12 from the field.
The Bobcats got off to a good start behind Gordon, who shot three of three attempts from the floor and added nine points in the first quarter as Charlotte outscored the Pacers 24-23.
Charlotte again outscored the Pacers 21-20 in the second quarter. Indiana shot badly, as they had only 33 shooting percentage from the floor in the first half.
The Pacers were trailing 45-43 when they entered the second half, but they had a 13-2 run in the third quarter to lead 64-56 and after that they did not trail in the game. They outscored the Bobcats 26-20 in the third quarter.
The fourth quarter saw the Pacers extending their lead further. With the help of Stephenson's dunk in the final minute, Indiana outscored the Bobcats 27-23 in the fourth quarter and won the game by eight points.
Charlotte were out-rebounded by Indiana 38-48, which proved instrumental in their defeat.
''I was pleased, in particular, with our defense in the first half,'' Bobcats coach Mike Dunlap said. ''We played them pretty evenly on the boards. But the disparity in the offensive rebounds was the difference in the game.''
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