Sixers Give Collins 105-95 Win At Indiana
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Dorell Wright scored 23 points and Evan Turner added 16 Wednesday night, leading Philadelphia to a 105-95 victory over short-handed Indiana in what was likely Doug Collins' final game as the 76ers coach.
The organization has already scheduled morning news conferences with the managing owner and Collins, who spent almost the entire game glued to his seat and spoke mostly with a hand covering his mouth.
Philadelphia (34-48) finished the season by winning three of its final four games but still out of the playoffs.
The Pacers (49-31) were led by Gerald Green who had a career-high 34 points. Lance Stephenson had 12 points, but the Pacers again failed to win their 50th game and head into the postseason with five losses in their last six games. Indiana rested four starters — Paul George, George Hill, Roy Hibbert and David West.
The game had no bearing on the playoff picture.
Indiana was already locked into the third seed in the Eastern Conference and will now face sixth-seeded Atlanta in the first round. The two teams split their four games this season. Philadelphia, meanwhile, had already been eliminated from the playoffs.
But the game did feature two intriguing story lines.
Sixers guard Jrue Holiday became only the second player in the franchise's 50-year history to average more than 17 points and eight assists for an entire season. He finished with five points and no assists, giving him single-season averages of 17.7 points and 8.01 assists. The only other Philly player to achieve that feat was Wilt Chamberlain in 1967-68.
And when Ben Hansbrough entered the game in the second quarter, it marked the first time in NBA history that two sets of brothers -- Jrue and Justin Holiday of the Sixers and Ben and Tyler Hansbrough of the Pacers -- played in the same game.
But the meaningless finale had little intrigue.
The 76ers scored the first 11 points and the Pacers spent the rest of the night futilely playing catch-up. They got within nine three times in the first half but couldn't get closer than that until Jeff Pendergraph's steal and layup made it 90-83 midway through the fourth quarter.
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