Wizards stay alive with blowout of Pacers

Washington Wizards’ Marcin Gortat (4) is defended by Indiana Pacers’ Paul George (24) during the first quarter of game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinal NBA basketball playoff series in Indianapolis, Monday, May 5, 2014. AP

INDIANAPOLIS—Marcin Gortat scored 31 points and had 16 rebounds, and John Wall added 27 points as the Washington Wizards carried a 39-rebound advantage to a 102-79 rout of Indiana on Wednesday (Manila time), cutting the Pacers’ lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals to 3-2.

Washington can level the series at home on Friday (Manila time) in Game 6.

It was a stunning turnaround for a team that had lost the last three. But with Gortat matching a career-high in points and posting a playoff career high in rebounds, Washington held a 62-23 rebounding edge.

David West scored 17 points for Indiana.

Washington used a 15-6 run to take a 45-38 halftime lead, extended the margin to 24 after three and to as much as 30 in the fourth.

Washington denied the top-seeded Pacers a spot in the conference finals and improved to 4-2 on the road in this year’s playoffs. They are just 1-3 at home.

Indiana couldn’t get enough stops because of its rebounding problems, and it didn’t take long to see it play out.

Gortat and Wall combined for eight of the Wizards’ first 10 points, and they were strong enough inside to fend off a brief Indiana scoring flurry to make it 25-19 after one.

Indiana charged back early in the second. Luis Scola scored the first five points, topping Indiana’s entire bench total from Game 4, and took a 27-25 lead when Paul George knocked down a 3-pointer with 9:49 to go.

It was all Wizards after that.

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