Thunder vs. Pacers: Score, results, highlights from OKC's close win

Jordan Greer

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Thunder vs. Pacers: Score, results, highlights from OKC's close win image

Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony combined for 34 points on 10-of-45 shooting Wednesday night against the Pacers — and the Thunder won the game.

It wasn't pretty, but Oklahoma City stopped Indiana's four-game winning streak in George's return to Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Oklahoma City center Steven Adams (23 points, 13 rebounds) and shooting guard Alex Abrines (14 points, 4 of 6 from 3-point range) picked up the slack, and the Thunder bench contributed 29 points to the cause. 

MORE: Thunder vs. Pacers box score | Full NBA scoreboard

There was much discussion heading into the interconference battle about how the trade package of Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis had outplayed George up to this point in the season, but George got the last laugh, sinking two free throws with 10 seconds left to close it out. Oladipo finished with a team-high 19 points, but he only shot 9 of 26 from the field, including 1 of 9 from 3-point range. Sabonis chipped in eight points off the bench in 19 minutes.

Sporting News provided live updates below for the matchup between the Thunder and Pacers. Here's what you may have missed...

Thunder vs. Pacers: Score, highlights, updates

Final score: Thunder 100, Pacers 95

9:24 p.m. ET — Oh, no. What are the Pacers doing? Thaddeus Young bobbles the inbound pass from Victor Oladipo, dribbles the ball off his leg and tries to save it. Unfortunately for Indy, he throws it right to Paul George. After getting fouled by Young to stop the clock, George calmly makes two free throws. That ices the game, and the Thunder escape with a victory.

9:20 p.m. ET — Weird call late. Thaddeus Young appeared to run over Josh Huestis for a charge call, but upon further review, the officiating crew deemed it a block. Young hits one of two free throws to cut the Thunder's lead to one point, but Alex Abrines barely beats the shot clock with a tip-in on the ensuing possession to put OKC ahead by three.

Thunder 98, Pacers 95 with 15.3 seconds left.

9:15 p.m. ET — And there's the triple-double for Russell Westbrook, his ninth of the season (10 points, 15 rebounds, 12 assists). But the Thunder are falling apart in the fourth — again. The Pacers cut the deficit to two points with less than a minute to go. Thunder 96, Pacers 94 with 40.8 seconds left.

9:02 p.m. ET — After a couple of poor isolation possessions, Westbrook pushes the pace and finds Alex Abrines for an open 3-point opportunity. Nothing but net. The Thunder capture their first double-digit lead of the game, 92-81. Only 5:14 left on the clock.

8:56 p.m. ET — Russell Westbrook and Paul George re-enter the game for the Thunder with under eight minutes to go in regulation, but the bench mob has done its job. OKC's reserves (Raymond Felton, Josh Huestis, Patrick Patterson, Terrance Ferguson and Jerami Grant) have produced 29 points, and each player holds a positive plus-minus.

End of third quarter: Thunder 73, Pacers 69

8:45 p.m. ET — Steven Adams has been the player on the floor for the Thunder, and it's not all that close. Adams has 23 points on 11-of-16 shooting with 12 rebounds. Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony have 28 points on 9-of-35 shooting combined. Yikes. Still, OKC has the lead through three quarters.

So basically...

8:33 p.m. ET — Alex Abrines and Paul George hit back-to-back 3-pointers, and now the Pacers are forced to stop play with a timeout. That shot could break George out of his slump.

8:25 p.m. ET — Indy is off to the races. The Pacers kick off the third quarter with an 11-2 run with Bojan Bogdanovic scoring seven of those points. Billy Donovan calls timeout. The Thunder need an answer here.

Halftime: Thunder 51, Pacers 46

8:06 p.m. ET — Congratulations if you bet on Steven Adams being the leading scorer at the half. Adams has 15 points and seven rebounds on 7-of-10 shooting. Paul George has seven points after a dunk and 3-pointer late in the second quarter, but he doesn't look like himself. Russell Westbrook has only taken five shots, but he does have 11 rebounds and nine assists.

Darren Collison is the only Pacers player in double figures with 12 points. Victor Oladipo has been unable to find a rhythm, going 3 of 10 from the field in the first half. He did manage to sneak in an athletic, nifty finish before the break, though.

7:55 p.m. ET — Paul George update: Not great. The Thunder forward is 0 of 4 from the field with two points and four turnovers. The fans are definitely enjoying this so far. Indy is ahead by one point with less than four minutes to go in the first half.

7:44 p.m. ET — Look at that classic Thunder alley-oop combination of, uh, Raymond Felton and Josh Huestis? Sure, let's go with that.

End of first quarter: Pacers 27, Thunder 22

7:37 p.m. ET — Lance Stephenson... buckets. The crowd is treated to a Stephenson celebration after he beats the buzzer to give the Pacers a five-point advantage. Darren Collison leads all scorers with 10 points after one quarter of play. Paul George only has one field goal attempt in eight minutes.

7:30 p.m. ET — Victor Oladipo is shooting 44.4 percent from deep this season, so someone should guard him? Just a suggestion.

7:20 p.m. ET — The Pacers fire back with an 11-2 run of their own. Indy leads 14-12 at the first timeout break. And in case you were wondering, Paul George is hearing boos every time he touches the ball.

7:15 p.m. ET — Carmelo Anthony drills a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer to open the game. Anthony is shooting 37.8 percent on catch-and-shoot 3-pointers this season, well above his overall 3-point mark (33.8). Paul George hits a couple of free throws for his first points of the contest. The Thunder start the first quarter on a 10-3 run.

7:07 p.m. ET — Something to watch: When Paul George is on the floor with Russell Westbrook, he has a net rating of plus-4.8 (104.1 offensive, 99.3 defensive), but when Westbrook sits, George's net rating drops to minus-14.5 (92.0 offensive, 106.5 defensive). It will be interesting to see if that trend continues.

6:58 p.m. ET — This sign feels a bit forced. Maybe go back to the drawing board.

6:37 p.m. ET — Russell Westbrook and Victor Oladipo are still buddies. Hey, that's nice!

6:25 p.m. ET — This may not be the mood of the entire crowd, but at least one guy isn't that excited to see Paul George.

Jordan Greer

Jordan Greer Photo

Jordan Greer has been with The Sporting News since 2015. He previously worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He is a graduate of Westminster College and Syracuse University.