Indiana Pacers rally from 16 down to beat Cleveland Cavs

Cleveland Cavaliers' Samardo Samuels puts up a shot against Indiana Pacers' Sam Young on Wednesday in Indianapolis.

INDIANAPOLIS — Paul George scored 27 points, and the Indiana Pacers overcame a 16-point deficit to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 96-81 on Wednesday night.

David West had 18 points and nine rebounds and George Hill added 17 points for the Pacers, who snapped a two-game skid.

Indiana, third in the NBA in scoring defense and No. 1 in opponent field-goal percentage coming in, held the Cavaliers to 23 points on 8-for-41 shooting in the second half. It was Cleveland's lowest-scoring half of the season.

The Cavaliers couldn't build on Tuesday's win over the Los Angeles Lakers. C.J. Miles scored 28 points for the second straight game, but Kyrie Irving was held to nine points on 4-for-12 shooting in his second game back after missing 11 straight with a broken finger.

George is averaging 24.4 points and 7.6 rebounds his past five games.

Perhaps the most excitement in the second half came when Cleveland's Tristan Thompson hit Indiana's Ben Hansbrough with an errant elbow early in the fourth quarter and big brother Tyler stepped in and angrily protected his brother. Thompson was issued a flagrant foul and Ben Hansbrough made one of two free throws to give the Pacers an 83-73 lead.

It was all Cleveland early. The Cavaliers took a 54-38 lead on a jumper by Samardo Samuels with 3:39 left in the first half. Indiana closed the half with a 14-4 run to close the gap to 58-52.

George hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 58-57 in the first two minutes of the second half, Hill made a reverse layup and was fouled. His free throw gave Indiana a 60-58 lead. The 3-point play gave the Pacers their first lead since it was 2-0.

NOTES: Pacers G Lance Stephenson left the game in the third quarter after spraining his right ankle.