Pacers get angry to turn Rockets matchup into laugher

INDIANAPOLIS — On Friday night, the Indiana Pacers showed what mad basketball looks like. When effectively ticked off, the Pacers can produce such an honor roll of achievements that would keep the statisticians searching for comparable efforts. But there have been few victories that could meet Friday's effort.

Inside a sold-out Bankers Life Fieldhouse, with the return of Danny Granger providing the sideshow, the Pacers drummed the Houston Rockets 114-81 and created season bests in points, margin of victory, 3-pointers made and assists. It was a show of strength and anger after Indiana (21-5) suffered two straight losses.

"I think focus is anger. Everyone keyed in," point guard George Hill said. "You have that focus, mad mentality. The longer we can sustain that, the better off we'll be."

Also, and not so coincidentally, Friday night revealed how much better this Pacers team looks when Hill locks into his aggression.

"I hope he figures it out that he can score with the best of them when he puts his mind to it," said Paul George, who finished with a game-high 24 points. "He can do some things that the elite class point guards can do.

"Some nights, you're going to shoot the ball well. Some nights, you're not going to make shots, but it's all about being aggressive."

Hill, like most of the starters, enjoyed his courtside seat through the entire fourth quarter while wrapped up in warm-up shirts and towels. He wasn't needed as the Pacers opened a 36-point lead, but before his extended break, Hill scored 12 points and added five assists against one turnover. At one point, Hill had knocked down 5-of-6 shots, including confident 3-pointers that helped crack open the Pacers' big lead near the end of the first half.

"I think with George, he takes great pride in being a big part of this basketball team," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "I know he wanted to contribute more in the last game. I know he just wished he played better. And usually when he wishes he plays better, he comes out and has a great night."

As much as Hill won't admit it — because he'll claim that he got over the weight of the the Miami Heat loss by the end of Wednesday night — he needed a bounce-back performance. Back at American Airlines Arena, Hill's voice was muted as he claimed responsibility for his part of a late turnover with George. That night, Hill only took three shots and scored seven points — which isn't surprising, because four of his lowest-scoring games of the season have come in Pacers losses.

But on Friday night, Hill stayed in the mix. Early in the third quarter, he attacked the rim for a finger roll. Then at the 7:08 mark, Hill drilled his second 3-pointer of the night. And that focused anger that he spoke of showed up on the defensive end. On one play, the shot clock was winding down on James Harden and, though George had the assignment, Hill wound up on Houston's top player. While George yelled for someone to take point guard Patrick Beverley, Hill never budged off Harden. The smart choice. Instead of racing back to the unimportant option on that play, Hill raised his hand over Harden and forced a miss.

So what is it — does Hill play better when the team is dominating, or do the Pacers roll much tighter when Hill plays better?

"I feel like the team rolls when I'm actually being aggressive, and when I'm not aggressive, I think we struggle," Hill said after considering the question. "Just taking that as a side note for me (to) start being aggressive and being the G. Hill that got me here and that's what I've got to hold myself accountable for."

The Pacers defense was in sync. Vogel had been challenging his players to get back to that dominance of holding an opponent under 40% shooting, and the Pacers granted that request and more.

Houston came to Indiana as a live-by-the-3 team — averaging 9.7 makes per game. The Rockets ranked third in the NBA in that department, but made just 4-of-22 against the Pacers. Houston shot a measly 38.1% from the floor as Indiana created 11 steals and blocked seven shots.

"I feel like when we all play together and hold each other on the defensive end and help each other out, we're going to be a tough team," Hill said. "Tonight, it just showed."

Candace Buckner covers the NBA for The Indianapolis Star, a Gannett affiliate.