WASHINGTON -- Paul George forced Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel to leave him on the court. George took -- and made -- the key shots, to the tune of a career playoff-high 39 points. He grabbed rebounds, 12 in all. He guarded the Wizards most dangerous scorer. When there was a loose ball, it was George diving to the floor to collect it. In sum, the tireless George willed the up-and-down Pacers within one victory of a return trip to the Eastern Conference finals, playing every second of the final three quarters as Indiana erased a 19-point deficit to beat Washington 95-92 Sunday night. "I kept wanting to try to get him a rest, and he kept saying, No," Vogel said. "And usually Ill override that, but he kept making big shots, too." Roy Hibbert had 17 points and nine rebounds, continuing his recent surge after a poor-as-can-be, zero-point, zero-rebound showing in Game 1. He responded with 28 points in Game 2, then 14 in Game 3, before helping Indiana win its third consecutive game Sunday, when Hibbert said he got a motivational boost from what he called a heckling fan. "He woke me up," Hibbert said. "He said I was tired. He was saying a lot of obscenities. Im a God-fearing man, so Im not going to go ahead and say what he was saying." After dropping Game 1, the Pacers have won three in a row to go up 3-1 and can close out the best-of-seven series at home Tuesday night. Only eight teams in NBA history have blown that lead. "Weve got a chance to make something happen," said Washingtons Bradley Beal, who was hounded at the defensive end by George and worked hard to get his 20 points. Beal might be right, but Washington better figure out how to limit George, who averaged 14.5 points in Games 1 and 2, but ramped that up with 23 Friday. And he was not about to let Vogel put him on the sideline down the stretch Sunday. In all, George played 46 minutes, and he scored 28 points after halftime. "I already had it in my head that I was pretty much going to go the whole distance," George said. "There was a moment where I was pretty gassed, but that second wind kicked in." The Wizards were up 17 at halftime, then made it 57-38 on Nenes basket to open the third quarter. But Washington showed a propensity this season for blowing double-digit leads -- the Wizards lost 11 games after being up by at least 10 points -- and again fell apart. "We never panicked," Pacers forward David West said. Georges 3 with 5 1/2 minutes left made it 85-79, and another 30 seconds later made it 85-82, giving him seven from beyond the arc, matching a franchise post-season mark held by Reggie Miller and Chuck Person. George also helped the Pacers limit the Wizards to one field goal over the final 7 1/2 minutes. John Wall gave Washington its last lead at 91-90 with about 2 minutes to go. George pushed Indiana back in front with two foul shots, and the Pacers forced a shot-clock violation. Hibbert made a 12-foot turnaround hook shot with 1:02 remaining to put the Pacers up 94-91, and sprinted down the court, his arms spread, his smile wide. Left all alone, Wall passed up an open 3-pointer, instead sending the ball to Beal, who missed a 3 try with under 50 seconds left. "Thats what the play was for, and I made the right decision," Wall said. The Pacers are playing much more like the team that pushed the Miami Heat to seven games in last seasons conference finals, and the one that earned the No. 1 seeding by going 46-13 at the start of this season. Theyre looking less like the bunch that went 10-13 down the stretch this year, then needed seven games to sneak past Atlanta in the first round. "We go through ups and downs, and highs and lows," said Hibbert, who scored two points before halftime, 15 after. Whats clear is this: When Paul is at his best, the Pacers are, too. "Paul is Paul. You know that youre going to get 150 per cent every time hes on the court," Hill said. "He knows hes the go-to guy on this team." NOTES: Georges previous post-season career best was 30 points. ... Wizards coach Randy Wittman likes to call his trio of not-yet-retired reserves -- Andre Miller, 38; Al Harrington, 34; Drew Gooden, 32 -- the "AARP group," but they helped produce a 32-2 bench scoring edge for the hosts. Cheap NBA Jerseys . Hes had three top-10 results this season and feels ready to put it all together and finally hoist a trophy at the top level. Cheap College Jerseys . Portuguese sides Benfica and Porto also advanced to the last eight while Basel overcame an early red card to win 2-1 at Salzburg and progress from a last-16 second leg that was briefly suspended because of crowd trouble. Lyon, Valencia and AZ Alkmaar will also be in Fridays draw in Nyon, Switzerland, where the team to avoid will be Juventus -- even though the Italian champions made heavy work of their all-Italian last-16 match against Fiorentina. https://www.cheapnfljerseysjustwholesale.com/. He never mentioned anything about his hitting. The 33-year-old right-hander had success with both Sunday, pitching six solid innings and helping the offence-starved Mets with an RBI single as New York salvaged a doubleheader split with a 4-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Cheap MLB Jerseys . Winners of two straight, the Flames will try to become the first team in 25 years to go three consecutive games without taking a penalty Saturday night in San Jose. Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys . The Canadiens captain, who underwent surgery on his injured biceps in the off-season, had been skating with the team in a non-contact capacity since last week.INDIANAPOLIS -- The Pacers were back to being themselves Sunday. They made shots. They defended hard for 48 minutes. Lance Stephenson regained his swagger and, yes, the reeling Pacers even looked like a playoff-ready team. David West made three free throws in the final 15 seconds and Stephenson produced his league-leading fifth triple-double to give Indiana a 102-97 win over Oklahoma City 102-97, putting the Pacers on the cusp of clinching the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. "Were going to treat it (the season finale) like a playoff game. We have to get that No. 1 spot," Stephenson said. "Thats what we wanted from the beginning of the season so we have to take it, not get it, we have to take it." All they need is a win Wednesday night at Orlando or one more Miami loss. The Heat visit Washington on Monday and host Philadelphia on Wednesday. Its been a wild second-half ride for Indiana (55-26), which held the top spot in the East from opening night in October until the last week of March. When the Pacers beat the Heat on March 26, they had a three-game lead and a seemingly firm grasp on home-court advantage. As the losses mounted, though, Miami charged back and finally took the top spot on March 31. But rather than pulling away, the two-time defending champs gave the lead right back. Miami retook a one-half game by beating the Pacers at home Friday, then fell into a tie with Indiana after losing Saturday night in Atlanta. The Pacers went into Sundays game with six losses in eight games and the knowledge that all they had to do was win their last two -- because they have a better conference record than the Heat. So just like that, Indiana flipped the switch and got back to looking the a championship contender. Six players reached double figures including West, who had 21, and Stephenson, who had 17 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. He broke Detlef Schrempfs franchise record for most triple doubles in a season (four in 1992-93). "Hes a big part of our personality, a big part of our edge, a fan favourite with good reason and hes one of the head coachs favourites," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said after getting a low-five from Stephenson after a late 3-pointer. Paul George finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds and C.J.&nnbsp;Watson scored a season high 20 points.dddddddddddd. The Pacers didnt even need much from Roy Hibbert, who had six rebounds, no points and was 0 for 9 from the field. The Thunder (58-22) shot 42.9 per cent from the field, were 7 of 28 on 3-pointers and were outrebounded 46-32. NBA scoring leader Kevin Durant had 38 points and Russell Westbrook had 21 as they rallied Oklahoma City from a 10-point deficit over the final seven minutes. The Thunder, who were trying to lock up the No. 2 seed in the West, have no doubt Indiana can play with the best in the NBA. "Whats surprising to me is the people who are down on them," Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. "In an 82-game season, youre going to have some tough times. Unfortunately for them, theyre having it late in the season. But all it takes is a game or two to get back on." What changed for the Pacers, aside from returning to their home court? They were gritty and selfless, the starters who sat out Wednesday at Milwaukee looked well-rested and the bench that produced a big win over the Bucks looked more confident. While there were still signs of lingering problems, such as 21 turnovers. Indiana stayed in control and closed it out late. After Georges 12-foot runner gave the Pacers an 87-77 lead with 6:59 to go, the Thunder charged back, tying the score at 89 when Westbrook hit a 3 with 2:46 to go. "We put ourselves in good position, we just couldnt finish," Durant said. The Pacers wouldnt allow it. George broke the tie with a 3 and 2:09 to play, West followed that with two straight mid-range jumpers and Stephenson knocked down a 3 with 34.2 seconds left to give make it 97-91. "Were just trying to put together good basketball at this point and hopefully carry it into the playoffs," West said. Notes: George welcomed a 15-year-old Cincinnati boy as part of the Make-A-Wish foundation. Roei, a Pacers fans, has been waiting 10 months for a liver/small bowel transplant. ... Indiana finished 35-6 at home and is assured of having the leagues best home record. ... Nick Collison received eight stitches to close a cut above his nose and backup guard Reggie Jackson injured his neck after running into Ian Mahinmis pick in the fourth quarter. ' ' '