Game Rewind: Pacers 120, Hornets 95

Like they've done most of this season, the Pacers took care of business against an inferior team on Sunday night.

Indiana (31-15) picked up its second win in as many nights and secured a winning homestand with a 120-95 victory over the Charlotte Hornets (22-24) at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Victor Oladipo led the Pacers with 21 points and seven assists in the victory, while Darren Collison added 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting (3-of-5 from 3-point range) and nine assists.

The Pacers are now 3-1 on their five-game homestand with a showdown with one of the Eastern Conference's top teams, the Toronto Raptors, looming on Wednesday night.

Collison scored or assisted on nine of Indiana's first 10 field goals, including all four during a 10-0 run that put the Pacers in front. The 6-foot guard finished the first quarter with 11 points and five assists as the Blue & Gold took a 34-26 lead into the second.

"Just being aggressive," Collison said. "Anyone of us — Vic, Bojan (Bogdanovic), myself — can be aggressive in the pick-and-roll. I had my moment (early)."

The Pacers extended their advantage to as many as 17 points in the second quarter and took a 56-41 lead into the break.

Charlotte opened the second half with a 15-5 run to make it a five-point game before Collison buried a 3-pointer to stem the tide. Indiana held the visitors at arm's length for the rest of the third quarter and took an 83-71 lead into the final frame.

It was more of the same in the fourth quarter, as the Pacers seemingly countered every Hornets basket with one of their own early in the frame, thwarting the visitors' hopes of a rally.

That was thanks in large part to Pacers guard Tyreke Evans, who after assisting on Indiana's first two field goals of the fourth quarter, scored the next nine points for the home team.

Evans finished with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting and five assists, his sixth consecutive game in double figures off the bench.

"That's what he's capable of," Collison said. "He averaged 20 last year (with Memphis). He's a big-time scorer in this league, so it doesn't really surprise many of us. It just seems that he's finding his rhythm right now."

Eventually, the Blue & Gold pulled away, using a 12-2 run to push the lead to 20 and effectively put the game away.

Five Pacers players finished in double figures for Indiana. Bogdanovic scored 16 points and pulled down seven rebounds, while Domantas Sabonis had 16 points and eight rebounds off the bench.

Myles Turner narrowly missed out on a double-double, scoring nine points but pulling down 16 rebounds to go along with three blocks.

All-Star guard Kemba Walker led Charlotte with 23 points on 8-of-18 shooting and also tallied seven assists. Bismack Biyombo added 10 points and 12 rebounds in the loss, which snapped the Hornets' three-game win streak.

The Pacers return to action on Wednesday night, when they welcome Kawhi Leonard and the Raptors to The Fieldhouse at 7:00 PM ET.

"Obviously it was a great win, back-to-back wins for us, but we've got a big dog coming in here (on Wednesday)," Oladipo said. "We're going to be ready to play. I'm looking forward to it."

Photo Credit: NBAE/Getty Images

Oladipo had just five points on 2-of-10 shooting in the first half, but tallied 16 points and went 6-for-10 from the field after halftime. He topped 20 points for the first time since Jan. 4 in Chicago, snapping a seven-game drought, his longest streak without scoring 20 or more in his Pacers career.

The Pacers went 14-for-27 from 3-point range on Sunday, their most prolific night from beyond the arc since they also went 14-for-27 in a win over Miami on Nov. 16.

Indiana outscored the Hornets 28-14 on the fastbreak.

Turner has now blocked three or more shots in 24 games this season, including each of the past three contests.

Bogdanovic returned to double figures after failing to reach double digits in each of the past two games, when when he went a combined 5-for-21 from the field and 1-for-11 from 3-point range.

The Pacers scored 20 points on 16 Charlotte turnovers.

"You're going to have a week or so when you lose your rhythm, maybe lose your eye as far as your shooting, maybe fatigue, could be a number of things. Victor and our guys have been missing open looks, and that's just a matter of continuing to stay with it. You get in the gym and you work on your shot, get your eye back, and stay aggressive. I thought Victor did that." -Pacers head coach Nate McMillan on Oladipo's shooting slump

"Like I said just continue to keep being aggressive. Telling my teammates to continue to lift me up, just believing in me and my coaching staff as well. I just gotta be aggressive and make the right plays" -Oladipo

"Coach talked about taking care of the ball. As many times as we do take care of the ball, we seem to get good shots on the offensive end. Every time we take care of the ball, it seems to work out for us on the offensive end." -Collison

"We know they are a team that can get hot from the three-point line. I think we did a pretty good job containing them from the three. We did a pretty good job containing Kemba Walker in the pick-and-roll and any time you can slow him down, you slow the rest of the team down as well." -Turner

"They are a team that turns people over. They were physical tonight. Just too many turnovers for us. I give them credit, they played well." -Hornets coach James Borrego

Indiana had 34 assists and just eight turnovers on Sunday, one shy of their season high in assists and just two more than their season low for turnovers.

The Pacers conclude their five-game homestand when they host Kawhi Leonard and the Toronto Raptors at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Wednesday, Jan. 23 at 7:00 PM ET. Find Tickets »

Jack's Donuts: Visit your local Jack's Donuts the day after a Pacers victory and mention the Pacers win to receive a free twelve ounce coffee with any purchase. Visit JacksDonuts.com to find the Jack's Donuts nearest you.