Pacers’ playoff push gets jump-start with win over 76ers

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Paul George scored 15 points and Monta Ellis added 13 on Monday night to help the Indiana Pacers pull away from the Philadelphia 76ers, 91-75.

Indiana snapped a two-game losing streak and won for just the second time in five games as it tries to take advantage of a favorable schedule to make a late-season playoff push.

Hollis Thompson and Isaiah Canaan each scored 15 for the 76ers, who have lost six straight and 19 of their last 20.

This one was never really close.

Indiana used a 9-0 run midway through the first quarter to take a 21-10 lead and never trailed. The 76ers only got within one score once the rest of the night, after Canaan’s 3-pointer with 7:06 left in the third made it 55-53.

The Pacers scored eight straight and extended the lead throughout the fourth.