Wizards easily keep series alive

Pacers stumble, waste opportunity to clinch at home.

Marcin Gortat had 31 points and 16 rebounds, John Wall scored 27 points and the Washington Wizards rode a 39-rebound advantage to a 102-79 rout of Indiana on Tuesday night, cutting the Pacers’ lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals to 3-2.

Washington can even the series at home on Thursday 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 156 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. The Wizards are 1-3 at home.

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

Indiana charged back early in the second. Luis Scola scored the first five points, topping Indiana’s 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.

Things got even worse for the Pacers in the third quarter when they were outrebounded 18-4, and the Wizards made them pay. Washington’s 6-0 streak extended the lead to 11, a 9-2 run pushed the margin to 60-45, and when the Wizards closed the third on a 10-3 charge, it was 76-52.

After blowing a 19-point lead in Game 4, Washington slow down, leading by 30 early in the fourth quarter.

Stan Van Gundy to Pistons? A person with knowledge of the details said Stan Van Gundy has agreed to a $35-million, five-year contract to be the Detroit Pistons’ coach and president of basketball operations.

Detroit gave Van Gundy, who also has coached the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic, the powerful combination of jobs Tuesday, the person said on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced. The deal was first reported by ESPN.com.