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George, Stephenson carry Pacers over Nets

Dec 24, 2013 - 6:25 AM Brooklyn, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Paul George and Lance Stephenson each scored 26 points on a combined 20-of-35 shooting to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 103-86 win over the Brooklyn Nets from Barclays Center.

Stephenson, who recorded his league-leading third triple-double in Sunday's 106-79 win over Boston, added seven rebounds and five assists.

David West and George Hill contributed 13 and 10, respectively, for Indiana, which has won three in a row on the heels of a two-game skid.

Joe Johnson paced Brooklyn, losers in three straight, with 17 points, while Kevin Garnett added 12 on 3-for-10 shooting.

Deron Williams netted nine points with eight assists in the setback.

The Pacers are 15-0 this season when holding opponents to less than 90 points.

"The defense travels," said Hill. "We can put that in a suitcase and take it anywhere we want."

Playing without an injured Brook Lopez, the Nets jumped out to an 8-2 lead following a Mirza Teletovic alley-oop slam from Williams.

The margin remained six in favor of Brooklyn just past the midway point of the quarter when the Pacers went on a 9-1 run to end the quarter and bring a 19-17 lead into the second frame.

Alan Anderson knocked down a trey for a 22-21 Brooklyn lead early in the second. C.J. Watson was fouled shooting a triple and made all three attempts that started an 8-2 Pacers push that he capped with a 3-pointer.

George hit a 3 with just over a minute left in the half to increase the Pacers' lead to 43-35, and Indiana took a 45-39 advantage into halftime.

Indiana opened the second half on a 15-4 run courtesy of two triples from George and a nifty pull-up jumper from Stephenson. Johnson forced Stephenson to the baseline when Stephenson spun to his right, dribbled the ball through his legs and pulled up and hitting nothing but net.

Stephenson later found Hill on an alley-oop layup to cap the run and give the Pacers a 60-43 lead at 7:24 of the third.

Hill stole an errant pass from Johnson and coasted in for a layup when Paul Pierce clotheslined the guard to the ground and was whistled for a flagrant-2 foul.

Pierce was ejected for the play and was held scoreless for the first time since March 9, 1999 - his rookie season. It marked just the second time in 1,123 games that the 16-year veteran was held scoreless.

Hill made both free throws which were part of a 13-2 run that swelled the league to 73-49 with just under four minutes left in the third.

Indiana led by 17 after three and cruised through the fourth for its second straight win over Brooklyn.

"We can't hang our head and feel sorry for ourselves we're not scoring the ball, we (have) to play defense," said Nets head coach Jason Kidd. "When things get tough, do we just give in? Most of the time right now we do."

Game Notes

The Nets' Jason Terry scored 11 points in just over 15 minutes off the bench in his first game since Nov. 20 ... Andray Blatche also added 11 points for the Nets ... Indiana held Brooklyn to 6-of-26 (23.1 percent) from three and outrebounded the hosts 46-36 ... Brooklyn plays Chicago at home on Christmas Day ... The Pacers are off until Saturday when they'll host Brooklyn.