Glenn Robinson usually plays in the shadow of superstar teammate Paul George, but the 22-year-old has spent too much time this season sitting on the Indiana Pacers’ bench to let this opportunity go to waste.
Robinson played in place of injured George for the second straight game and scored 17 points to lead the Pacers to a 91-70 win over the second-placed Los Angeles Clippers.
George has been sidelined with a left ankle injury and a sore back.
“We have shown that when we don’t have our best player, it is a must for the rest of us to come together,” the Pacers’ Al Jefferson said.
That is exactly what happened on Sunday night, as Myles Turner also scored 17 points and the Pacers’ defense shut down the high-flying Clippers.
The 70 points were the fewest by the Clippers in coach Doc Rivers’ four seasons there. The previous low was 80, while the previous low this season was 83.
Indiana won their second in a row, also getting 16 points from Jefferson, while Rodney Stuckey had 12 and Thaddeus Young had 11.
“We protected the paint and showed a wall on defense,” said Jefferson, who added eight rebounds.
The Clippers lost their second contest in a row on their six-game road trip. They got 16 points from Blake Griffin, 13 from Chris Paul and 12 from Jamal Crawford.
The Clippers shot only 31.4 percent overall, including four of 24 from three-point range.
The Clippers’ starting five combined for only 47 points and shot 34.2 percent.
“Tonight we outhustled them and forced a good team into 20 turnovers,” Indiana coach Nate McMillan said.
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