Perfect Pacers pull away late from Bulls 97-80

Indiana Pacers forward Paul George, center, is fouled as he shoots between Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng, left, and center Joakim Noah in the first half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013. AP

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana’s heavy offseason investment in squad development paid off Wednesday when Luis Scola, Donald Sloan and Lance Stephenson combined for all 12 points in a decisive fourth-quarter run, sending the still unbeaten Pacers past division rival Chicago 97-80 and to its best start since 1971-72.

“They brought all of us in to make the bench a little deeper than it was last year, and I think the guys on the bench know their role,” Sloan said. “So it just fits.”

Indiana, the NBA’s last unbeaten team this season, has won its first five games for the first season in four decades. The Pacers can equal the club record, 6-0 set by the 1970-71 ABA powerhouse, when Toronto visits Friday night.

Wednesday’s victory may have been the most impressive yet.

Again, the Pacers played short-handed, with injuries sidelining George Hill and Danny Granger.

Again, they had to come back from a halftime deficit. And again, they found a way to close it out.

Paul George, the league’s second-leading scorer, finished with 21 points, six rebounds and three assists. David West had 17 points and 13 rebounds, both season-highs. Roy Hibbert had eight points, 10 rebounds and added five more blocks to his league-leading total.

But Scola, Sloan and Stephenson changed the script.

After missing his first seven shots and scoring just three points in the first three quarters, Stephenson had 12 points in the final 12 minutes including two big 3-pointers during the decisive stretch. He finished with 15 points. Scola added 12, none more critical than the consecutive baskets he made midway through the fourth. Sloan scored nine points including the 17-footer that tied the score midway through the fourth.

Derrick Rose and Luol Deng scored 17 points each to lead the Bulls (1-3), though Rose scored only three points in 12 minutes in the second half and he spent the first half of the fourth quarter on the bench.

Elsewhere in the NBA, Kevin Durant had 23 points and 10 assists and Russell Westbrook scored 22 points as Oklahoma City pulled away in the second half to beat Dallas 107-93, the Spurs held off the Suns 99-96 and the Celtics notched their first win of the season with a 97-87 result against the winless Utah Jazz.

At San Antonio, Tony Parker scored 15 of the Spurs’ final 16 points to help the home team hold out Phoenix in a hectic finish.

Parker scored 20 overall, Danny Green had 19 points, Tim Duncan added 17 points and Boris Diaw 11 points for San Antonio, which has won four of its first five games.

Markieff Morris tied a career high with 23 points and also had 11 rebounds for Phoenix (3-2). Morris’ twin brother, Marcus, added 11 points and Gerald Green and Miles Plumlee each had 15.

Plumlee’s reverse layup gave Phoenix a 96-95 lead with 1 minute remaining. The Suns had an opportunity to extend the lead following a miss by Duncan, but Manu Ginobili drew a charge on Danny Green.

At Boston, Brandon Bass scored 20 points and Jeff Green added 18 for the Celtics. The attendance of 17,130 was about 1,500 fans short of a sellout, ending a streak of 289 sold out games dating to the end of the 2006-07 season.

In other games, the Warriors had a 106-93 win over the Timberwolves, the Magic beat the Clippers 98-90 with Nik Vucevic scoring 30 points — including six free throws in the final 23 seconds — the Bobcats edged the Raptors 92-90, the Bucks defeated the Cavaliers 109-104 and the Wizards earned their first win of the season with a 116-102 victory over the 76ers.