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Saturday, November 23, 2013 at 7:00 PM ET at Bankers Life Fieldhouse

Game Rewind: Pacers 106, 76ers 98

Pacers.com Staff | November 23, 2013

Game Recap

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Playing against a team that is well undermanned is often times more difficult than facing an opponent that’s at full strength. The Philadelphia 76ers, the youngest team in the NBA and who many presumed would compete for the league’s worst record this year, displayed their resilience Saturday night despite being without many key players.

Roy Hibbert had his way at both ends of the court and helped the Pacers keep to their winning ways, topping the 76ers 106-98. He finished with a season-high 27 points, 13 rebounds plus six swats – two key ones in the final 90 seconds.

RELATED: Hibbert, Experience Key »

The 76ers, who lost four in a row before an overtime win Friday night, were short-handed – notably without Spencer Hawes (knee), Troy Wroten (lower back) and Thaddeus Young (personal reason). That meant unusual lineups featuring players that were looking to make every second count. Late scratches, like with Hawes, is another element of difficulty after the Pacers’ coaching staff already went over the game plan for the night.

Before the first quarter expired, first year head coach Brett Brown had played all nine available players. The lead was exchanged seven times and the Pacers held a 25-22 edge early on, led by Hibbert’s nine points. It was passed around another eight times in the second, in what was a very back-and-forth game. Neither team had any real momentum until the second half.

In the third quarter, the Pacers were finally able to break through, and it began with a one-handed jam from George Hill on Evan Turner. The Pacers, who didn’t commit a foul in the third, scored nine of the final 11 points in the period for their largest lead of the contest, 77-68.

The 76ers, attacking and unwilling to concede victory, wouldn’t let that hold. They rattled off eight points just 94 seconds into the fourth, forcing Vogel to take a timeout. A few minutes later, after the 76ers had taken a three-point lead, Hibbert finished a three-point play and started what was a 15-2 Pacers run. The 76ers got to within four points a couple times, then each time Hibbert came up with a huge block on the defensive end.

Inside the Numbers

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All five Indiana starters scored in double figures. 13 of Hibbert’s season-high 27 points came at the foul line, a new career high, and he registered his third double-double of the season.

The Pacers topped the century mark for just the third time this season, scoring a season-high 106 points. It’s no surprise because the 76ers are 30th in the league in points allowed per game (109.6).

Rookie Michael Carter-Williams had 29 points, a career high, on 11-of-21 shooting. He also had seven steals, the highest total for an opposing player against the Pacers this season. Evan Turner contributed 21 points and 11 rebounds and Daniel Orton recorded his first career double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds).

The 76ers shot a staggering 102 shots, hitting on just 35 of them, including a 4-for-25 clip from beyond the arc. They did grab 23 of their misses and scored 31 second chance points, including 14 in the final quarter.

RELATED: Outrebounded? Not a Problem for Pacers »

Philadelphia has had 10 of their first 15 games decided by 10 points or less, including this one.

Quoteworthy

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“Good team win for our guys. I’m happy with the balance in the starting five and the scoring. … I don’t care what anybody says, it’s tough to play a game when you find out at the last minute that three or four of their top guys are out and you have a lot of new faces that you’re not familiar with.” – Frank Vogel

“We knew this would be a very tough game. They are well coached and knew how to carry out their game plan. We took business when we had to.” – David West

RELATED: Pacers Confident, But Calm »

“He’s been dominant defensively all year and when he we need him to step up on the offensive end, he does. A big effort by him.” – Vogel on Hibbert

“He’s always anchoring the paint for us. We know that if anything is breaking down we have the best rim protector. It’s good for us, bad for him, because he’s taking a lot of pounding down there. He’s always there.” – Paul George on Hibbert

“I don’t know of many seven footers that you can attack 25 times and only have 2 fouls called against him. To be successful like that at a 95 percent clip, that doesn’t make any sense to me.” – Evan Turner on Hibbert

Stat of the Game

The Pacers kept the 76ers to 29 percent shooting in the third and won the quarter, 21-14.

Noteworthy

Lance Stephenson completed a three-point play early into the fourth quarter, putting him over 1,000 points for his career.

Ian Mahinmi didn’t see the court for the first time this season. Vogel, wanting to explore their roster flexibility, informed Mahinmi of the decision at a 4 p.m. meeting. Vogel said Mahinmi will be back in the normal rotation on Monday.

Evan Turner was T'd up for the second time this season in the first quarter.

The Pacers are now 5-0 vs. Atlanta Division opponents, with one win over each of the five teams.

Former Pacers player Scott Pollard was in attendance.

After the game, season ticket holders attended an event featuring Pacers rookie Solomon Hill on the practice court.

Up Next

Monday, Nov. 25 vs Minnesota – 7:00 p.m. EST. Secure your seats at pacers.com/tickets.

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