Candace Buckner

candace.buckner@indystar.com

Friday, January 24 in Sacramento could stand as one of the nights the Indiana Pacers look back on and remember as a pivotal moment in the season.

The Pacers defeated the Sacramento Kings, 116-111 in overtime. But that line does not do it justice - the Pacers withstood 80 points from the Kings' backcourt, rallied from 17 points down, fought off what would have been the worst loss of the season and created one of those bonding us-against-the-world moments.

"This is where amazing happens - this locker room," center Roy Hibbert said.

Here are the top five clutch plays of the game:

5. The G2 Connection - George Hill to Paul George for game-tying transition dunk

You would have to go back to the 4:17 mark of the first quarter for the last time that Indiana and Sacramento were tied. Then after the teams were locked at 22-22, Sacramento - namely, guard Marcus Thornton - got hot and the Kings would go on to open up a 49-32 lead midway through the second quarter. However, with 3:13 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Pacers tied the game for the first time since the first quarter when George Hill hustled after a rebound then gave the ball to Paul George to slam it home and even things at 95-95.

Hill will go overlooked on this night - and that happens often with much of what he does with the Pacers' starting five. Someone's got to be the Tito of this bunch, even so Hill showed up at critical times throughout the second half comeback. He did not score until the 10:26 mark of the third quarter, but that layup sparked Hill's personal 5-0 run that pulled the Pacers to within five points. Hill made up for his early absence with an undeniably solid line of 10 points, 8 assists, 8 rebounds and 3 steals.

"I feel like in the first half, we let them control what they wanted to do," Hill said. "Coach challenged us to get our hands active, talk, communicate more on D and I think that's what we did second half."

4. Count it as a 3 for Lance Stephenson

The Pacers' backcourt combined to shoot 2-for-10 from beyond the arc, which makes you wonder why Hill (with the unstoppable floater) and Lance Stephenson (with the mentality of a running back hitting the hole) settled for so many jumpers. But Stephenson wasn't in the settling mood after he subbed in for George early in the fourth quarter.

The Pacers fell down 86-79 when he and Luis Scola turned things around. Stephenson zipped a low pass to Scola, standing near his sweet spot on the court. Though Scola had to bring his arms down slightly lower to handle the pass, he still hit the elbow jumper. Then the next time down the court, after a defensive stop, Stephenson wasted little time in rising and firing from the 3-point line. The shot fell through and the officials initially ruled it a 2-pointer while Stephenson backtracked on defense, making the "count it" gesture. Video replays showed that Stephenson and his And One sneakers were behind the line, the score changed to 86-84 and the Pacers were back in the game with 9:08 to go.

Stephenson made 9 of 19 shots for 24 points, pulling down 10 rebounds and dishing 6 assists.

3. George ripped Thomas' cookies

Someone should have put out an A.P.B. for the Pacers' defense. While Thornton and Isaiah Thomas both matched their individual career scoring highs and combined for 80 of the Kings' 111 points, it might have appeared that Indiana offered little resistance Friday night. Yes, that was true through the first half but the focus improved in the second half and overtime and the Pacers held Sacramento to just 38.6 percent shooting overall.

George came up with the biggest stop of the game as the Pacers protected a three-point lead in the closing seconds of overtime. Thomas, the smallest man on the court at 5-9, tried to engineer the game-tying play when George, at 6-7, got sneaky and stole the ball.

"I got about a foot over Isaiah, so once he turned his back I was able to look right over him and poke it from behind and steal it," George said. "Just using my length."

2. David West: 3-point specialist

West had only one field goal in overtime - and it was probably his biggest shot all season. The Kings led 106-105 as Indiana toiled through an offensive set. West couldn't remember the designed play, only that he saw the shot clock winding down and instinctively started transitioning his mind and body back to the defensive end. However, Hill sent the ball towards West, who was standing 26 feet away from the rim. West had one option - channel his inner Jimmer and shoot the rock.

"We kind of got mixed up," West said of the play. "I just wanted to get a shot up."

And just like a future contestant in the All-Star 3-point Shootout, West nailed the near top-of-the-key triple then flashed a priceless, wide-eyed expression towards the sideline. Disbelief and relief as the Pacers pulled ahead 108-106 and stayed out in front the rest of the way.

"It went in," said West, who's now 2-for-8 from beyond the arc this season. "I'm just happy it went in."

Post script: Sacramento's Jimmer Fredette didn't channel his inner Jimmer - he had just 5 points, which was typical for everyone on the Kings' roster not named Thornton or Thomas.

1. FOUR!

A four-point play to force overtime? Sounds implausible.

"Never done that before," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said, still smiling as he walked to the team bus. "A four-point play to tie the game."

George said he couldn't remember scoring a four-point play in college or the pros. But as he sat in the locker room on Friday night, described his off-screen 3-point make and subsequent free throw to tie the game at 103-103 with only 15.1 seconds remaining. Remember this? West said it was the same play the Pacers ran for George on Friday night. And just like the three to force OT in Miami, the Sacramento shot will stand as one of George's very best in his young career. But more than the 4-point play, George was as complete of a player this side of South Beach, having a very LeBron-esque night with 36 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocked shots. The only shining stat missing might have been more assists - George had 2. But when factoring in that George played 41 minutes and his defensive assignment launched 27 shots, for him to still hit the most clutch shot of the night and score 8 points in overtime was quite the feat.

"It's one of my best games. To get stops, to make shot after shot, regardless of the shot I feel like it was one of my best games because we didn't give up," George said. "I felt like we were going to win that game. Just the will to get stops, to make plays, to get shots. Whether I had those four points... I still would have thought this was one of my best games."