Theres always a gamble when youre taking a young player

INDIANAPOLIS -- The hard part for the Indiana Pacers isnt over. NBA Jerseys For Sale . It takes time to climb out of a slump. "Once youre not playing well and you finally get a win, the hardest part is maintaining that consistency," Paul George said. "You have to understand that its going to be different every night, but you got to find a way to build off the first win." George had 27 points and 13 rebounds, David West scored 15 points and the Indiana Pacers snapped a three-game skid with a 101-94 win over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night. George hit a 3-pointer from 35-feet to give the Pacers a 94-90 lead with 3:19 remaining and Indiana never trailed the rest of the way. Josh Smith scored 15 of his 24 points in the first quarter and finished with five rebounds, and Greg Monroe added 16 points for the Pistons, who have lost four of their last five games. Brandon Jennings hit a 3 to get Detroit within 94-93 before George scored, forced a turnover and West hit a jumper to give the Pacers a 98-93 lead with 1:35 left to play. "We were locked in really early in this game," George said. "They made a late push when we were up a good eight points, they made a pretty good push. But I felt our guys were locked in throughout this whole game." Georges two free throws with 8:54 left in the third gave Indiana a 58-50 lead. The Pistons bounced back with a 9-0 run and Rodney Stuckey hit a 3-pointer to give Detroit a 74-73 lead with 13 seconds left in the third. The Pacers gave fans mixed signals. At times Indianas sluggish play showed signs of a team that continues to struggle with chemistry, shooting and turnovers. The Pistons scored 17 points off 10 Indiana turnovers. At other times the Pacers looked like the same old team fans were used to before the All-Star break. Bankers Life Fieldhouse was abnormally silent when the Pistons went on an 8-0 run midway through the first quarter and took a 23-14 lead after Monroe scored with 4:19 left in the opening quarter. Then the Pacers showed signs of life. They went on a 12-2 spurt to close out the first. George scored to give the Pacers a 28-27 lead with 20 seconds left in the first. Evan Turner dunked and West scored to give the Pacers a 35-32 lead with 8:03 remaining in the second quarter. "We had good pace, we threw it up the floor, we attacked," Pistons interim coach John Loyer said. "I cant fault the way our guys played. They competed their butts off against the best team in the East." The Pistons went on an 8-0 run to take 40-35 lead with 5:13 left in the second quarter. Stephenson then sparked a 10-0 surge with a one-handed dunk and George closed it out with a 3 to give the Pacers a 45-40 advantage with 3:20 left in the half. Georges free throw with 31 seconds left in the second gave the Pacers a 50-46 lead at halftime. The Pistons handed Indiana its first home loss of the season, 101-96 back on Dec. 16 -- one of the few positives for Detroit this season. The Pacers won twice in Detroit, including a 112-104 overtime win on March 15. Indiana hopes Wednesdays win over the Pistons is the start to getting back to playing at the level they were. "You get a win, but you have to string a couple together," Pacers centre Roy Hibbert said. "Winning is hard work. We have to see if we can keep it going." It wont be easy. The Pacers play three of their next four games on the road. They go to Toronto on Friday and will host Atlanta on Sunday before going on the road to Milwaukee and Miami next week. They host Oklahoma City on April 13 in Indianas final home game before the playoffs. NOTES: Detroit G Chauncey Billups was out after left knee surgery. ... Pistons G Josh Harrellson was out with a knee injury, C Andrew Bynum was out with a sore right knee and G C.J. Watson was out with a right hamstring straight. ... Hibbert left the game with 1:21 left in the first quarter after he hit the back of his head falling to the ground on a Flagrant 1 foul called on Charlie Villanueva. Team officials said Hibbert has questionable with a sore neck, but he started the second half. . The Pistons shot 44 per cent in the first quarter and led by as many as nine points, but went 23 of 68 (33.8 per cent) in the final three quarters. NBA Jerseys .Steamboat Ski Resort contends Steamboat Springs, Colorado has long been known as Ski Town, U.S.A., and claims in a new lawsuit that Salt Lake tourism officials violated their trademark when they rolled out the Ski City marketing campaign last month. Fake NBA Jerseys . Lack made 20 saves for his third shutout of the season as the Canucks blanked the St. Louis Blues 1-0 in the first post-Olympic game for both teams night. https://www.cheapnbajerseysjustwholesale.com/ .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins will try to complete a sweep of the Washington Capitals when the clubs cap a quick home-and-home series Tuesday night in the Steel City.BOSTON -- The Toronto Maple Leafs dont know for sure if Jonathan Bernier will be a franchise goaltender. But they acquired the 24-year-old from the Los Angeles Kings with hopes of finding a long-term solution at the position. "Theres always a gamble when youre taking a young player, but we felt that the gamble was worth taking with the upside that we think that Jonathan has," Maple Leafs general manager Dave Nonis said. Seven years ago Monday, the Boston Bruins took a gamble, too. They sent veteran goalie Andrew Raycroft to Toronto for the rights to first-round draft pick Tuukka Rask. Now, Rask is in the Stanley Cup final with the Bruins while the Maple Leafs go into the off-season hoping that a tandem of Bernier and James Reimer can get the job done. "We feel weve got two of the top young goaltenders in the league right now," Nonis said. "I dont think you can be deep enough at that position." Former Leafs GM John Ferguson Jr. was dealing from depth in 2006. Prospect Justin Pogge had just finished a season with the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League in which he went 38-10-6 with a 1.72 goals-against average and .926 save percentage, and 26-year-old Mikael Tellqvist was also in the system. Rask was the Maple Leafs pick at No. 21, and though he was ranked high, he represented something of an unknown. Stitched NBA Jerseys. So much so that when the Raycroft trade happened, Bruins interim GM Jeff Gorton considered taking forward Jiri Tlusty instead. "It was like Tlusty or Rask for Raycroft," said Peter Chiarelli, who became Bostons GM in July 2006. "There was a lot of discussion at both ends about it. It was decided that it would be Rask from Bostons end." Raycroft gave up the most goals in the NHL in 2006-07 and lasted only two seasons in Toronto. Rask was Tim Thomas backup on Bostons 2011 Cup-winning team and is now a legitimate elite goaltender. At the tale end of a long playoff run with the Bruins, the trade is far from Rasks mind. "I was just happy to be part of any organization at that point," Rask said. "Maybe they saw something." Now, the Maple Leafs see something in Bernier, who is more established at this level than Rask was then. Nonis hopes Toronto can cash in on Berniers "pedigree of success." "Hes still young and I still think that hes got a long way to go in terms of development," he said. "A lot of goalies continue to get better well into their late 20s and early 30s, and I think that thats something we can expect from him, as well." ' ' '