A rejuvenated offense for the Indiana Pacers helped them to a 102-97 home win against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday, and now the magic number for Frank Vogel's team to clinch the top seed in the Eastern Conference is one.
Thunder vs. Pacers final score: Indiana wins, 102-97, and controls its destiny
The Indiana Pacers dropped the Oklahoma City Thunder and with a game remaining can lock up the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
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A win for the Pacers in their final game or a Miami Heat loss in either of their final two games will hand Indiana the top seed and homecourt advantage through the Eastern Conference Finals.
NBA Playoffs
Vogel's squad split four games with Miami this season but already owns the second tiebreaker thanks to a better conference record. Indiana plays at Orlando in the final game of its season, while the Heat play at Washington before closing out the year at home against the lowly Philadelphia 76ers.
With their offensive woes a thing of the past -- at least for the day -- the Pacers found themselves shooting 53 percent for the game and led by 11 points with just more than eight minutes to play. But the Thunder tied the game at 89 apiece with less than three minutes in the game.
Indiana's offense wouldn't stay silent from there. With a 94-91 lead, Lance Stephenson drilled an isolation three-pointer with 34 seconds left to make it a two-possession game that was just enough to squeak by a few late buckets by the Thunder's Kevin Durant, who finished with 38 points.
Stephenson finished with a triple-double of 17 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.
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David West led the Pacers with 21 points, Paul George added 20 points on just 6-for-17 shooting and backup point guard C.J. Watson helped a 41-point bench effort with 20 in his third game back from injury.
The bad news for Indiana, despite it controlling its own destiny, is center Roy Hibbert continuing to struggle on offense, going 0-for-9 from the floor in 27 minutes. He finished with zero points.
As for the Thunder, the second spot in the Western Conference playoffs is still not a lock with the Los Angeles Clippers lurking two games back, but with two games remaining for each, it would take two Oklahoma City losses and two Clippers wins to let it slip.
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