Basketball: Indiana 89 Washington 81

Paul George turned in one of his best showings of the season Friday in leading Indiana to its ninth win in 11 games, an 89-81 decision over Washington. George scored 29 points, his second-largest total of the campaign, and pulled down 14 rebounds. Indiana improved to 11-3 at home and its recent surge has pushed the Pacers six games above the .500 mark. D.J. Augustin contributed 18 points for Indiana and Roy Hibbert had 13. The Pacers built a 13-point lead after one period, but the Wizards battled back to within two early in the second half. Indiana then began to regain a comfortable lead and owned as much as a 13-point cushion in the fourth period. Washington has lost three straight since winning for just the fourth time this season. Jordan Crawford had 20 points off the bench for the Wizards. George's highest scoring game of the season was a 34-point effort against Chicago on Dec. 4. Source:UPI