George Hill's 22 points guided the Indiana Pacers past the Phoenix Suns 97-91 to register fourth straight victory.
For the Pacers, Paul George added 15 points, while David West had 14 points and seven rebounds. Hill shot very well from the field, making nine of 13 attempts. He also shot three 3-pointers against the Suns.
"I came in early and did my 'Paul George workout,'" the Associated Press quoted Hill as saying. "Paul has been telling me, 'Hey, get on the gun. Your shot will feel a lot better.'
"So I came in a little early today. I got some shots and got into a rhythm, and when I got out on the court it felt pretty good."
Sebastian Telfair top scored for the Suns with 19 points and six assists, whereas Marcin Gortat contributed with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Luis Scola and Shannon Brown scored 12 points apiece against Indiana, while Jared Dudley finished with 11 points and six rebounds. However, those contributions could not help in avoiding the team's fourth consecutive loss.
The Pacers outscored the Suns 27-20 in the first quarter and they extended their lead to 14 points in the first half by outscoring them 31-24 in the second quarter.
The Suns bounced back in the third quarter and cut the Pacers' lead to 75-71.
West spurred a run late on, giving the Pacers a narrow 87-85 lead with 3.17 remaining in the game. George then shot two free throws to extend the Pacers lead to 89-85.
"It wasn't pretty in the second half, but we got the job done," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "We'd like blowouts, but we got the 'W' and found a way to win."
Roy Hibbert hit two free throws to take the score to 95-89 and the Pacers comfortable held on for the win.
"We fought hard to come back, but we're traveling a lot, three games in four days," Scola said.
"It was just tough trying to close out. But I think we really made a game of it."
"It's becoming a similar theme every night," Suns coach Alvin Gentry added. "We start out great and then we get down and we have to fight all the way back. This is hard to do, especially against a quality team and especially against these guys."
West, who added eight points in the last quarter, helped his team to outscore the Suns 22-20 in the last period to win the game by six points.
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