This was a work of art, Pacers style

The visiting Pacers defeated the Washington Wizards 85-63 Friday night in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal playoff series. Game 4 will be at 8 p.m. Sunday night in Washington.

Paul George had 23 points in Friday's Game 2 win.

Forethoughts
For those of us who have watched the Pacers all season, this looked much like many of those early season wins. One of the things the Pacers had to like about this game is that it didn't take a huge performance from one player to pull this one out. Before the game there was concern from some of the ESPN talking heads on how the Pacers were going to score enough points to win unless center Roy Hibbert or Paul George or somebody had a big game on the offensive end. And again, these words were being spoken by people who obviously didn't have a clue about how the Pacers were so successful early in the season. Sure, they got the big game from Paul George on occasion, but more often than not those wins were played in much the same fashion as they were Friday night. It was a situation where the Pacers didn't have to worry about outscoring the other team simply because the other team had so much trouble scoring. Some will call this ugly basketball, and for those who like to see the free flowing non-defensive style of play, then this was not the kind of game they would like. But for Pacers fans this game was a pure work of art and we can only hope some more of these are left for the Pacers in this series and in the playoffs.
The Big Plays
This game changed during a four-minute stretch in the third quarter. The Pacers took a 39-37 lead for good on a George Hill 3-pointer at the 9:29 mark. That started a 12-0 run that also featured a 3-pointer by Paul George and a made shots by Lance Stephenson, David West and a nifty (well as nifty as he is capable of being) reverse layup by Hibbert.
The Ups
1) Of course, you have to start with the defense in this one. The Wizards actually led 27-20 midway through the second quarter. But they finished the quarter by hitting just two of their last 10 shots and shot 31 percent for the rest of the game. Some of the shots the Wizards missed were open looks, but what also has to be taken into account is how hard they had to work to get those open looks. If the defense is good, and an offensive player has to work extremely hard to get an open shot, that's a factor in all of this too. So yes, the defense always has something to do with how good or bad an offense looks.
2) Turnovers have been an issue for the Pacers most of the season, but in this game they had just nine, and four of those came from George, who has yet to master the skill of throwing an effective pass into the low post. But even with the Pacers not shooting that well themselves for the game at 41 percent, the fact that they had more shots at the basket was a good thing.
3) OK, so Hibbert didn't go crazy in this game, and I've said he doesn't have to go crazy for the Pacers to win. So, yes 14 points on 6 of 9 shooting, five rebounds and three blocks will do this time. Sure, it seems like a big guy like Hibbert should get more rebounds and that's a legitimate point. But Hibbert's first priority is to protect the rim and when does that it takes him out of rebounding position. So, it also becomes the responsibility of other players to pickup the rebounding slack. That's not an excuse for the zero rebound effort in Game 1, but it is a bit of an explanation on why he doesn't grab more rebounds.
 4) Hey, for all of you wondering if the Pacers are  back, they have won four of their last five and  also have won three straight on the road in the  playoffs. That's no easy feat.
 The Downs
 1) It's true the game wasn't close when he was in  during the second half, but Evan Turner will drive  you crazy on occasion. This time it was going  one-on-one, missing the shot, then being left to  chase the speedy John Wall on a fast break only  to commit the foul and give the Wizards an  opportunity for a three-point play. I'll never be  against the idea of not playing Turner, especially  if it's a close game in the second half.
2) ESPN analyst Bill Simmons said on the pre-game show that the Wizards would win the next three games. Well, that didn't work out too well. And yes, I get that ESPN pays some of its so-called experts to make an outrageous statement every now and then to get some attention (I mean I'm writing about him now). But there is also a credibility issue here (for the few of who actually care about that these days) and what Simmons said before the game was just a stupid statement. And even if the Wizards recover and win this series, what Simmons said is still stupid and unrealistic statement.  Just someone else I don't have to listen to anymore.
Next Up
So in this society of immediate results analysis, some may think the Wizards are done and this series is over. I wouldn't bet on that. The Pacers gave themselves the upper hand with the convincing win Friday, but the Wizards will surely come out and be more aggressive and shoot the ball with more confidence on their home court Sunday night. If the Pacers continue to stop the fast break at all cost though, it will be interesting to see how the Wizards react. Washington didn't have an answer for the Pacers stubborn deliberate style Friday. I suspect the Wizards will at least have some type of formula to counteract that Sunday.