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NBA: Thunder defeat Pacers in George’s return to Indiana
LOS ANGELES, Dec 14, 2017 (BSS/AFP) – Russell Westbrook posted his ninth triple double of the season and Paul George made a successful return to Indiana as the Oklahoma City Thunder edged the Pacers 100-95 on Wednesday.
George was booed loudly whenever touched the ball in his first return to the Bankers Life Fieldhouse arena since being traded five months ago.
But George, a four-time all-star, had the last laugh, scoring 12 points as he backed up Westbrook’s 10-point, 17 rebound and 12 assist performance in front of a crowd of 17,900.
George was traded to Oklahoma City in exchange for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis after he told the Pacers he didn’t plan to re-sign with the team following the 2017-18 NBA season.
Steven Adams scored 23 points on 11-of-16 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Thunder.
The Thunder improved to 13-14 on the season as they registered their first two-game season sweep of Indiana since 2012-13 and snapped the Pacers’ four-game winning streak.
Oladipo led the Pacers with 19 points, but had a rough shooting night, going nine of 26 from the floor. Bojan Bogdanovic added 15 for the Pacers and Thaddeus Young had 11 points, 10 rebounds and seven steals.
BSS/AFP/AU/09:35 hrs