Daily NBA Fix 1-19-14: Paul George, Indiana Pacers Cool Off Red-Hot Los Angeles Clippers

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Welcome to your Daily NBA Fix for Sunday, Jan. 19. Paul George, after some early-season MVP buzz, had come back to earth a bit as the New Year rolled around. Heading into Saturday night’s meeting with the red-hot Los Angeles Clippers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, George had been a mere mortal in January, averaging 19.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists a game on 38.8 percent shooting.

He brought the funk against the Clips, though, scoring 36 points on 12-of-17 shooting that included a ridiculous dunk, a reverse 360-degree windmill jam in the fourth quarter that put the exclamation point on Indiana’s 21st homecourt victory in 22 tries this season.

The Miami Heat needed overtime to ring up the Charlotte Bobcats for the 15th straight time, the Washington Wizards couldn’t get over .500—again—the Minnesota Timberwolves, Chicago Bulls and Portland Trail Blazers posted blowout wins and the Golden State Warriors held an opponent to less than 120 points for the first time in three games.

The Daily NBA Fix will still deliver highlights, game capsules, the top and bottom five players, the dreaded Goose Egg, Clean and Sober and Ironman awards, we’ll recap who’s circling the drain, there will be some interesting pieces of relevant (and not-so-relevant) information and we’ll look at today’s daily lines for those people who like to wager a buck or two.

Check out the highlights below from the night that was, then get into the game capsules (home teams in CAPS).

Jan 18, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers forward Paul George (24) dunks on a break away against the Los Angeles Clippers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Indiana defeats Los Angeles 106-92. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /

INDIANA PACERS 106, Los Angeles Clippers 92
Paul George went off for 36 points and left the traveling dunk show that is the Clippers in awe with his aerial show in the fourth quarter. The Pacers won despite losing David West to a flagrant 2 foul at halftime after a replay review. The win was Indiana’s fourth straight—all by at least 14 points—and snapped L.A.’s five-game winning streak. Jamal Crawford had 22 points off the bench for the Clips and DeAndre Jordan had 17 boards to go with 12 points.

Detroit Pistons 104, WASHINGTON WIZARDS 98
The Wizards still haven’t been over .500 since October 2008, falling to 0-3 this season when they had a chance to get above the break-even mark. Josh Smith scored 22 points and Rodney Stuckey had 20 for the Pistons, while John Wall had 34 points to go with six assists. But while Wall was a one-man gang, the Pistons had some balance—Greg Monroe had 12 points and 10 rebounds, Andre Drummond went for 10 points and 13 boards and Brandon Jennings and Kyle Singler scored 14 apiece.