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SALT LAKE CITY -- A game after he scored a career-high 43 points, nothing seemed to be going right for Paul George. Alex Delvecchio Jersey . Fighting a cold, his chest was burning and he couldnt seem to catch his breath. To make matters worse, his reliable shooting stroke was faltering. "It was so hard to find my wind but I didnt want to make any excuses. I tried to play through it and find a way to will us to a win tonight," said George, who scored 19 points as the Indiana Pacers returned to their defensive ways in beating the Utah Jazz 95-86 on Wednesday. George and Pacers primarily did it with defence as they usually do. "We struggled but we stuck with what we do best," said George, who had a key steal and dunk moments after the Jazz got within two points midway through the final period. "We made those guys take tough shots and, over time, those shots start to get a little short or a little long. Our defence played a huge part in us getting this win." Lance Stephenson scored 15 points, Luis Scola had 14 and Roy Hibbert added 13 points to win in Utah for the first time since an 84-60 victory on Nov. 29, 2005. The Pacers were coming off their first back-to-back games of the season in which they allowed their opponent to reach 100 points -- L.A. Clippers and Portland. But Indiana outscored the Jazz 27-19 in the fourth quarter and parlayed 14 Utah turnovers in 20 points. "They pushed us off our spots," Utah coach Tyrone Corbin said. "They put pressure on us a little bit and threw off our rhythm." Gordon Haywards 3-pointer cut the Indiana lead to 79-76 before the Pacers scored nine straight points, capped by Wests 20-foot jumper that just beat the shot clock, and never looked back. "We made the better plays down the stretch. We got what we wanted, getting open shots because we executed in the fourth quarter," West said. Derrick Favours led Utah with 22 points and 13 rebounds and Enes Kanter had 20 points and 10 boards for the Jazz, who had won three of their last four games. Hayward and George, who have worked out together in the summers and were picked ninth and 10th in the 2010 draft, both struggled with their shooting against each others tenacious defence. "Its always fun playing against Gordon because hes one of the few guys in this league that never lets up. I know I always have my hands full when I face him," George said. When George finally made a 3-pointer -- his first in eight attempts -- with 53 seconds left, he paused and pointed skyward in relief at seeing one drop. "I pointed up to the basketball gods and thanked them. It was just a relief. I wasnt able to shoot the ball well and I was just fatigued out there," said George, who finished 7 of 20 from the field after an acrobatic layup with 21 seconds remaining. Hayward made only 3 of 14 shots and finished with 12 points. "They are good defensively. They challenged a lot of shots at the rim and forced us to shoot over the top and we just couldnt knock them down," Hayward said. Behind 10 points each from Kanter and Favours, the Jazz built an 11-point lead in the first half that evaporated to 48-47 by halftime. Led by Stephenson, the Pacers used an 18-4 run bridging the second and third quarters to move in front. The Pacers are the top defensive team in the league -- holding opponents to 39.5 per cent shooting and 87.6 points per game -- but they allowed the Clippers to score 100 points in a win and the Blazers 106 points in a loss on the current five-game road trip. "It was a really good win for our guys, kind of a grind-it-out type of game," Indiana coach Frank Vogel said. Power forwards Marvin Williams (foot) and Jeremy Evans (flu) sat out the game for the Jazz but Utah attacked the Pacers for three quarters and led 69-68 after Kanters layup to open the fourth quarter. But the deeper into the fourth period they went, the more difficult it was for the Jazz to score. The Pacers disrupted the Jazz offensive sets and when Utah found open looks they misfired down the stretch. "The altitude and my asthma kicked me in the rear to begin with. But I got my second wind and I was trying to be a defensive presence," said Hibbert, who blocked two shots and altered several others. The Pacers tough trip concludes with a back-to-back set against San Antonio on Saturday and Oklahoma City a day later. NOTES: Jazz rookie Trey Burke had a career-high nine assists. . Stephenson, upset with an offensive foul call in the fourth quarter, threw the ball over his shoulder and got a technical foul. . Kanter looked as if he threw Hibbert to the floor in the final two minutes but Hibbert gave a sly smile, indicating he may have helped sell the call. . Though he travelled with the team, Danny Granger has only played five games this season for the Pacers due to a strained calf and is still inactive. Pavel Datsyuk Jersey . The Wizards announced Friday that Webster had surgery to repair a herniated disc in his lower back. The operation was performed Thursday in Los Angeles. Sergei Fedorov Jersey . 1-9 on TSN. With more than 65 hours of exclusive live coverage, TSN delivers all the action beginning with Draw 1 on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 2 p. http://www.hockeyredwings.info/customized/ . MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez also will attend the session, which was announced Monday. The league has discussed placing its next two expansion teams in Miami and Atlanta.(SportsNetwork.com) - For 30 of the NFLs 32 teams, the focus has already shifted toward next season and that means preparation for the draft is kicking into high gear. Monday marked the beginning of Senior Bowl week in Mobile, Alabama, as NFL officials from all 32 clubs, along with 110 draft-eligible college prospects descended on the Gulf Coast. The Titans and Jaguars coaching staffs will be mentoring the best senior and redshirt junior talent in the country leading up to the 66th annual Senior Bowl on Jan. 24. In a quarterback-light year when only two signal callers have been given first-round grades by most scouts -- Florida States Jameis Winston and Oregons Marcus Mariota -- intriguing Baylor project Bryce Petty is one of the more high-profile prospects on hand and a player sure to receive a lot of attention in the Cotton State. The sturdy, 6-foot-3, 230-pound Petty spent his first three years in Waco, Texas, as a backup to Robert Griffin III as well as Nick Florence before taking over Art Briles dynamic spread offense as a junior in 2013. He finished that season with 4,200 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and only three interceptions, while adding 14 more scores on the ground. The sequel was also solid as Petty, who finished 10th in the Heisman Trophy voting in 2014, passed for 3,855 yards and 29 touchdowns along with six more on the ground while leading the Bears to a share of the Big 12 title and a berth in the Cotton Bowl, where he threw for a record 550 yards in a 42-41 loss to Big Ten powerhouse Michigan State. Petty has the measureables that NFL teams look for, but hes been pigeonholed as a spread-offense quarterback, who will need plenty of time to learn the intricacies of a traditional NFL system. So, much like Mariota, its build the offense around Pettys skill set or understand hes a two- or three-year project at minimum while learning yours. I just want to prove that I can play in an NFL system, Petty said. That its not about this college system. I can do drops, I can read defenses, go through progressions, pick up NFL offenses, the verbiage, what Im supposed to look at, all that kind of stuff. The positives on Petty, who has been projected by most as a third-round pick, are his size and mobility, along with strong natural leadership skills, something demanded by the position he plays. When Petty feels it, he also can be an efficient passer, with touch, timing and effective ball placement, although it remains to be seen if you can really drive the football downfiield consistently, especially against NFL-caliber defensive backs. Curtis Joseph Jersey. We like to go fast and we like to go deep (at Baylor), Petty said. That part makes it fun. I think thats why kids love playing for coach Briles and in our system. Being an offensive guy, you love making the big play. The big play is always fun, its always exciting, so being a part of that, being able to jumpstart those explosive plays was always fun. Helping jumpstart those explosive plays is Pettys functional football mobility, which is well above average, making his ability to extend plays outside the pocket exceptional at times on the college level. Of course, keeping your eyes up and looking downfield while an NFL pass rush is bearing down is a different animal. Like most spread-specific QBs, Petty often arrives at the line of scrimmage with a predetermined read in mind and locks in on that particular receiver. The fact he was always in the shotgun at Baylor is also a concern and scouts will be paying close attention to his mechanics and footwork under center. Right now Petty is regarded as a system-dependent QB who excels in quick, one- read situations in which tempo and spacing are key. The hard part is projecting if he can be anything more than that at the next level. That whole system deal is what it is, Petty explained. I was told when I came in (to Baylor), Hey, this is the car youre going to drive and here are the keys. For me, thats what I was told to do and I wanted to excel at that and be the best I could at that system. Regardless of what system I come into in the NFL, Im going to take that same approach. Im going to excel in whatever system that Ill be in. To do that, Petty has been working with noted quarterback guru George Whitfield in an attempt to improve his game and prove hes not a one-trick pony. What Ive always said is theres a billion ways to coach quarterbacks, Petty said. Everybodys got a certain click or a certain way they like to be coached. For George, its so personal. Hes great at what he does because he makes it easy to understand what hes talking about. And its even easier to understand what Petty is trying to accomplish in Mobile ... its time to buck the Baylor system. You dont have to worry about a system guy, Petty said, basically pleading his case to NFL scouts. What you are going to get is a passionate guy thats going to want to absorb anything and everything he can. I feel like I am a top quarterback in this draft and (Im here) to prove it. ' ' '