OAKLAND, Calif. - When Paul George played at Golden State last season, he missed all seven shots he took and finished scoreless in Indianas loss. Instead of sulking, he went straight to the gym after the Pacers arrived back home in the wee hours of the morning. That work ethic has paid off. George scored 23 points to go with four rebounds and two assists, and the NBA-leading Pacers built a big lead before holding off the Warriors 102-94 Monday night for their fifth straight win. "That game changed everything, for our franchise and for him," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said, recalling the 103-92 loss at Golden State on Dec. 1, 2012. "It forced him to change his approach." George has emerged as an MVP candidate this season, and his Indiana teammates are improving just as rapidly. The Pacers (33-7) went ahead by 20 in the third quarter, watched the Warriors whittle the lead to two and then regrouped in the closing minutes to open the five-game West Coast trip with a victory. Roy Hibbert had 14 points and 13 rebounds, David West added 17 points and Lance Stephenson finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists to help the Pacers pull away for good. "I felt good coming off screens, dribbling the ball and hitting some shots," said George, who made 9 of 20 from the floor. "Its just tough running around with those guys and still having legs to make shots at the end. Thats really what the toughness was." Stephen Curry had 24 points and nine assists, and David Lee had 20 points and 12 rebounds for the streaky Warriors, who have lost four of six since winning 10 in a row. Indiana outshot the Warriors 45.1 to 40.7 per cent and outrebounded them 52 to 45. Both teams committed 15 turnovers. "Were right there as a team that has the potential to do some great things this year if we can figure that last, little bit of consistency out," Curry said. "Weve shown in spots we have the talent to do it, we just have to find that last little piece of assertiveness against the best teams in the league." Golden State made the Pacers work for the win. After going down by 20 in the third quarter, Harrison Barnes hit a 3-pointer to slice Indianas lead to 79-77 early in the fourth. The Pacers pulled away by eight before the Warriors roared back within three on Lees free throws. Stephenson answered with a 3-pointer to put the Pacers up 94-87. Klay Thompson followed with swish from long range, then George Hill hit another from beyond the arc to keep Indiana in control. "It was like the movie Rocky II. Im not sure which guy was going to fall first. Both teams were completely exhausted," Vogel said. The Warriors final push ended almost as quickly as it started. Andre Iguodala made a fadeaway to trim Indianas lead to 98-94 with less than a minute left. After Iguodala stole the ball from Hill, Curry missed a contested 3-pointer short, and the Pacers put the game away on free throws. "Were close, but we still have work to do," said Warriors centre Andrew Bogut, who had 10 points and 13 rebounds. The Warriors entered the night having played an NBA-high 25 road games compared to 17 at home. The game began a string of five straight and nine of 11 at Oracle Arena, though Golden States home court provided little comfort against the NBAs best. Sparked by its defence and work-to-get-a-good-shot approach, Indiana opened a 35-21 lead at the end of the first quarter. Golden State switched to a smaller lineup to try and outrun the Pacers, who instead exploited their size inside. After going ahead by 16 points late in the second quarter, Indiana let the Warriors creep closer thanks to a series of turnovers. The Pacers led 53-40 at the half. Indiana came out of the break just like it did to start the game, scoring the first seven of the third quarter to take a 60-40 lead that silenced most of the announced sellout crowd of 19,596. But Curry and Co. quickly had fans on their feet and to a fever pitch after a timeout. Curry hit a jumper, then tossed an alley-oop to Bogut before Thompsons 3-pointer started a run that brought the Warriors within eight heading to the frantic fourth quarter. NOTES: Warriors coach Mark Jackson said it was an honour to play on the holiday honouring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. "Im not sitting here if he didnt have a dream and he didnt fight for that dream the right way," Jackson said. ... The Warriors havent won a series against the Pacers since the 2000-01 season. ... Indiana hosts Golden State on March 4 in the teams only other meeting this season. Ray-Ray Armstrong Jersey . Here is a look at all the moves through the first week of NHL Free Agency. 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The midfielder had an operation on Saturday, and is set to miss seven Premier League games, the third round of the FA Cup and the semifinals of the League Cup.SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers are competing for their playoff lives with two games to go, slim as those chances might be.Surprisingly, the San Francisco 49ers find themselves playing only to finish on a strong note — not for another deep post-season run they had become so used to in the first three years under embattled coach Jim Harbaugh.It will be a little strange, indeed, for San Francisco with nothing at stake Saturday night on its home field.Not that Rivers expects Harbaughs team to back down one bit at this stage despite the uncomfortable circumstances and constant, swirling questions about Harbaughs future with one season remaining on his $25 million, five-year contract.This is a team we respect a lot. Theyve been to three championship games and theres lots of reasons why maybe this year didnt turn out, Rivers said. Its a late game in December with one week to go. Two teams are in different circumstances, but both have a lot of prideful guys and guys who are going to give everything. It will be a playoff-type intensity type of game.The Chargers (8-6) are in a closing stretch that included a win at Baltimore and home losses to New England and Denver. Theyve gone from controlling their own destiny in the wild-card race to needing to win at San Francisco and at Kansas City, plus to get some help.San Francisco (7-7) has its first three-game losing streak during Harbaughs tenure, with two of those coming at the hands of the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks in an 18-day span.Now, the Niners are playing for a winning season.Theres a lot at stake. Thats the way we approach it, Harbaugh said.Here are some other things to watch for Saturday at Levis Stadium:BANGED-UP CHARGERS: Rivers sat out practice Wednesday, apparently to rest chest and back injuries. He said he anticipates starting Saturday night.He would be down one of his favourite options, Keenan Allen, who was placed on injured reserve Tuesday with a broken right collarbone. In addition, inside linebacker Donald Butler went on IR on Monday with a dislocated left elbow.Defensive tackle Corey Liuget said the Chargers need to learn from the losses and move on fast.We always know we can play with the best of them, but in order to be the best, to be considered one of the top three to five teams in the NFL, youve got to beat the beest and we didnt prove that the last two weeks, he said.ddddddddddddKAEPERNICK PUSHES ON: Despite the disappointment this year, Colin Kaepernick would like to give San Francisco any possible momentum to take into the off-season.Everybody thought these 49ers would be playing well into January. His subpar season has been key in the results.I think thats what everyones expectation was, including ours, Kaepernick said. You dont play this game for any other reason than to try to win a Super Bowl. And its disappointing that were not going to be able to accomplish that this year, but we have to keep moving forward.WILL GORE GO?: Midweek, 49ers running back Frank Gore declared himself symptom-free from a concussion suffered last Sunday at Seattle and Harbaugh expects him to play. In what could be his final two weeks with the 49ers, Gore needs 196 yards rushing for his fourth consecutive 1,000-yard season and eighth in his 10 NFL seasons.CHARGERS OFFENSE: The Chargers scored only one offensive touchdown in each of their past two games.San Diego could be without running back Ryan Mathews for a second straight game due to an ankle injury. Without their running game, Rivers is more vulnerable.You definitely want to come out and play your best ball, wide receiver Eddie Royal said. You want to make a statement and win those games, especially at home. That didnt happen, but it didnt take away from the type of team and type of players we know we have.San Diegos defence has played well lately, but the offence has dragged down the team.If you play red-area defence the way our defence was playing the last couple of games we should win these games, coach Mike McCoy said. But its a team game.NO MORE MCDONALD: The 49ers released defensive lineman Ray McDonald on Wednesday amid a sexual assault investigation by San Jose police only a month after the Santa Clara County district attorneys office decided not to file charges against him in a domestic violence case.His dismissal leaves a void on what has been one of the NFLs best front seven units in recent years.What I can tell you is I was extremely disappointed, as all of us were, to hear about the latest allegations, general manager Trent Baalke said.___AP Sports Writer Bernie Wilson in San Diego contributed to this report.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL