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Pacers Links: Road win over Lakers helps Pacers take another step forward

George Hill made the plays to help the Pacers hold on and beat the Lakers at winning time which was big for a team not known for hero ball.

By Tom Lewis

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Harry How

Indiana Pacers guard George Hill stepped up with two huge buckets around and over Dwight Howard to help the Pacers seal up a road win at STAPLES Center for the third consecutive year.

The W helped put a pretty face on an ugly game which would've been a disaster for the Pacers to lose. Who knew the Lakers offense was as messy as the Pacers? If the Pacers didn't take advantage of all of the missed free throws and turnovers the Lakers delivered then depression was ready and waiting to set in.

Instead the Pacers leave L.A. all smiles and can even chuckle about all of the moments referee Joey Crawford made his presence known. They also seem to have a better feel for how to close out games. David West and Hill have taken turns taking the big shots in close wins for the Pacers.

Midway through the fourth quarter I was hoping West was ready to ride in and carry the Pacers home. But his next shot missed everything and I realized it may not be his night despite a strong effort throughout. Fortunately confidence to make plays down the stretch which would be a start to getting the offense to play withing the same zip code as the defense.

The Joey Crawford block call GIF below nicely captures the feeling following Hill's game-winner. I have a feeling the Pacers wanted to do a similar jig on the way to the locker room after hanging on to win. What would be really nice is to hear the comments between Frank Vogel and Jim Boylen right at the end of the GIF. Check out the rest of the links if you can stop watching Crawford's ridiculousness.

Joey-crawford

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