AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Down by 25 in the second quarter, the Indiana Pacers still had plenty of time. "We needed a little reminder of what we are playing for here," coach Frank Vogel said. The Pacers responded with one of the most impressive comebacks of the NBA season, catching the Detroit Pistons in the fourth quarter and eventually pulling away in overtime for a 112-104 victory Saturday night. Indiana leads Miami by 3 1/2 games in the race for the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Paul George had 30 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Pacers. "We knew this was going to be a long game," George said. "We knew we had a chance to come back and we just had to take small steps. We had to chip away and get this win." Josh Smith scored 23 points for the Pistons, who lost star centre Andre Drummond in the first quarter to a neck injury. Drummond was able to walk off with some assistance and was a bit sore after the game. "Just a little bit of a scare," Drummond said. "Its hard for me to make moves left and right sometimes, but it shouldnt be anything that should stop me from the next few days." Evan Turner added 20 points for the Pacers, and David West scored six of his 15 points in overtime. Detroit led 56-31 in the second quarter but couldnt hold on. The Pistons trail Atlanta by five games for the final playoff spot in the East. It was the second-biggest comeback victory in the NBA this season, according to STATS. Golden State rallied from 27 down against Toronto on Dec. 3. "Really proud of our guys," Vogel said. "I did not like the deficit we built especially in that first half, but we stayed with the game and came back with better energy." Drummond, Detroits promising second-year centre, left with 6:32 remaining in the first quarter. He appeared to be hit in the head inadvertently by the Pacers Roy Hibbert during a scramble near the basket. "I got my hand on the ball and the ball rolled between my legs," Drummond said. "I reached down and came up and I ended up, my head hit Roy Hibbert in his thigh and sent a shock throughout my whole body." Drummond stayed down through an entire timeout. A stretcher was eventually brought onto the court, but he was able to get up and walk off toward the tunnel. Even without him, Detroit dominated the first half. A putback dunk by Jonas Jerebko pushed the lead to 25, and it was 60-41 at halftime. The Pacers started the second half with eight straight points, and George scored 14 points in the third quarter. Detroit led 79-73 after three. It was tied at 83 when Smith put Detroit back ahead with a layup. Then Detroits Greg Monroe and Indianas Luis Scola became entangled, leading to a brief skirmish and technical fouls on both players. A three-point play by Turner put Indiana ahead, but the Pacers couldnt shake the Pistons, and George missed a jumper from the left elbow that could have won the game at the end of regulation. "I thought we had a good stand at the end," Detroit interim coach John Loyer said. "They put it in their best players hands. I thought we did a pretty good job contesting the shot." It was 100-all heading into overtime. With Indiana up 104-102, West made a couple jumpers to give the Pacers a six-point lead. "In the overtime we just tried to get good quality looks," West said. "We didnt want to turn the ball over and we just wanted to make sure we got quality looks at the rim." NOTES: It was Indianas 17th victory of the season when trailing at halftime. ... Andrew Bynum scored 15 points with nine rebounds in 20 minutes for the Pacers. ... Detroit came into the game averaging an NBA-best 52.7 points in the paint. Indiana was allowing an NBA-low 35.4. Both teams ended up with 46 on Saturday. Logan Couture Jersey . For the first time all night, as the Raptors were on the clock to make the 20th overall selection, no one had the slightest idea what was about to happen. No leaks, no whispers, nothing. Evander Kane Jersey . 3 seed Phillip Kohlschreiber from Germany. Defending champion Marin Cilic also reached the semifinals -- his fourth in Zagreb -- defeating fellow Croat Ivan Dodig. German qualifier Bjorn Phau beat Dudi Sela of Israel to reach his first semifinals in nearly five years. http://www.sharkssale.com/authentic-brent-burns-sharks-jersey/ .com) - The Golden State Warriors have started another winning streak and theyll try to pad it Tuesday night when they head to Staples Center to face the Los Angeles Lakers. Erik Karlsson Jersey . If there is one club built to handle an off-field controversy, its the Bill Belichick era Patriots. Even if New Englands offence stumbles a bit out of the gate, their defence can help them stay in games, especially in the AFC East with the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets in the first two weeks. San Jose Sharks Jerseys .Leicester won 25-21 in a heated European Rugby Champions Cup group match on Sunday.Toulon said on its website on Wednesday that it decided to open an investigation after Leicester complained about the behaviour of prop Martin Castrogiovanni and fullback Delon Armitage.ALBANY, N.Y. - About one-third of professional mixed martial arts matches end in knockout or technical knockout, indicating a higher incidence of brain trauma than boxing or other martial arts, according to a new study in the American Journal of Sports Medicine. University of Toronto researchers examined records and videos from 844 Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts from 2006 to 2012 for the study published this month. They found that 108 matches or nearly 13 per cent ended in knockouts. Another 179 matches, or 21 per cent, ended in technical knockouts, usually after a combatant was hit in the head five to 10 times in the last 10 seconds before the fight was stopped. "Were taking the premise with this that what you see on TV is one thing, but to kind of add scientific rigour to document it objectively," said Michael Hutchison, co-author and director of the concussion program at the universitys MacIntosh Sports Medicine Clinic. With the technical knockouts, or TKOs, they reviewed videos and found "an increasing number of repetitive strikes to the head" during the last 30 seconds of a match, he said. Professional mixed martial arts includes elements of wrestling, judo, boxing and kickboxing inside an enclosure with fighters wearing small, fingerless gloves and no headgear. Officials from UFC, the sports major brand, seeking approval to stage bouts in New York have argued that mixed martial arts has evolved over 20 years with many safety regulations to protect fighters, including mandatory suspensions after concussions. They say its safer than boxing, where fighters tend to take repeated blows from padded gloves, with no history of deaths or traumatic brain injuries sustained in the ring. Lawrence Epstein, chief operating officer of UFC, called the Toronto study "somewhat flawed" and said a forthcoming study by researchers who have enrolled nearly 400 active and retired fighters will provide better insight. "By partnering with the Cleveland Clinic, one of the worlds leading medical research institutions, on advanced studies aimed at not only preventing long-term brain injuries, but also identifying those predisposed to them, the UFC demonstrates true commitment to the safety of all professional athletes," Epstein said. Preliminary results from the Cleveland studies found athletes with higher exposure to head trauma — based on a formula including number of fights, years fighting and fights per year — were likelier to score lower on cognitive testing. Researchers conducting the free, ongoing assessments of fighters brain health are examining factors like genetics, lifestyle or head trauma exposure and susceptibility to injury. The Toronto researchers, who examined UFC matches, found the time from a knockout blow — often a punch to the jaw — until maatches were stopped averaged 3.dddddddddddd5 seconds with losers on average getting hit 2.6 more times to the head. With TKOs, they found that in the last 30 seconds before a match was stopped the loser was hit on average 18.5 times, 92 per cent of those to the head. Hutchison acknowledged that unlike the knockouts, which meet the criteria for brain concussions, they cant definitively identify the particular injury from a TKO. Professional rules say that happens when a referee stops a fight because one competitor can no longer defend himself. "We can accurately suggest ... this cant be good for their health," he said. Citing data from other research, the study said the mixed martial arts head trauma rate also outpaces football and hockey. The researchers proposed introducing rules like in boxing where a fighter gets a 10-second count and evaluated after a knockdown. They also proposed more training to help referees to identify fighters who are defenceless or have lost consciousness so they can stop fights more quickly. "Given that participation at amateur levels of the sport is growing rapidly, we expect to see high rates of traumatic brain injuries at more junior levels of amateur competition," the researchers wrote. "These points strongly argue for banning the sport in youth and for preventive strategies to reduce the burden of traumatic brain injuries in professional MMA fighters who elect to fight." Hutchison wasnt saying whether mixed martial arts should be legal or not, only that adults should know the risks so they can make informed decisions. People are inherent risk takers, and some do it with drinking, smoking, skydiving or other activities, but they should be aware, he said. Most states have legalized and regulated professional mixed martial arts although some are silent on the matter. New York is the only state that prohibits such fights and longstanding efforts to get it legalized recently stalled again for advocates hoping to gain access to Madison Square Garden and other New York venues. The state Senate has passed the bill for several years and put it in a proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year, but it has not cleared the state Assembly. New York state Sen. Joseph Griffo sponsored legislation that would legalize the sport and subject amateur mixed martial arts to state oversight that would include more stringent rules and regulations like those employed by amateur boxing. Regulation would also help the state go after the underground fights with paying audiences that are occurring now, especially in New York City, he said. "I think everybody would agree the objective is to be very sensitive and do everything possible with preventing trauma to the head," Griffo said. "I dont think in any way that should prevent the sport." ' ' '