Pacers-Warriors Preview

By MATT BEARDMORE
Posted Jan 19 2012 2:03PM

The Indiana Pacers got off to a rough start on their three-game trip by failing to close out their opponent. The Golden State Warriors are also looking to bounce back from a fourth-quarter meltdown.

Indiana goes for its first victory in Oakland in six years when the Warriors open a season-high six-game homestand Friday night.

Leading by 14 heading into the fourth quarter Wednesday, the Pacers (9-4) couldn't solve Sacramento's 2-3 zone defense and lost 92-88.

Indiana has a 108-69 third-period scoring edge over its last four opponents, but it has been outscored by 23 in the fourth quarter of those contests.

"Obviously this was a tough loss for us," said Pacers coach Frank Vogel, whose team shot 2 for 16 and committed nine fourth-quarter turnovers against the Kings. "To give up a lead like that in the fourth quarter is definitely a missed opportunity for us."

Warriors coach Mark Jackson felt the same way following a 107-100 loss at New Jersey on Wednesday. With a chance to go 3-1 on its trip, Golden State was outscored 27-17 in the fourth by a Nets team that had dropped its first four at home.

"It's a disappointing loss," said Jackson, the former Pacers point guard who is third all-time in franchise history with 3,294 assists. "We had the game won. Bottom line, if you don't close out quarters or possessions, it will come back to bite you."

Golden State (5-9) will try to get back on track as it begins a stretch of 10 of 12 in the Bay Area.

The Warriors have won the last four times the Pacers have been in town, posting a 110-108 victory in the most recent meeting Jan. 19, 2011, on Monta Ellis' jumper with less than a second remaining. Ellis finished with 36 points in that game after scoring 45 the previous time Indiana visited Nov. 30, 2009.

While the Pacers are winless in Oakland since Nov. 29, 2006, forward Danny Granger has averaged 29.0 points and 8.8 rebounds during his team's losing streak at Oracle Arena.

Granger's 23.3 scoring average in this series is his highest against any team.

Golden State guard Brandon Rush will get his first look at his former teammates after being acquired from Indiana last month for Louis Amundson. Rush, who averaged 8.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in three seasons for the Pacers, has scored 10.6 per game and hit 13 of 24 from 3-point range over the last seven.

Newcomer Nate Robinson has also been a nice pickup for the Warriors, who are unsure when Stephen Curry will return after missing the last eight games with a sprained right ankle.

Robinson is averaging 13.3 points and 5.0 assists off the bench since being signed Jan. 4.

Up front, the Warriors will have to do a better job on the boards than they did Wednesday, when they were outrebounded by 20. Led by Roy Hibbert (9.6), David West (6.7) and Tyler Hansbrough (6.1), Indiana is among the league leaders with 45.2 rebounds per game.

Warriors forward David Lee will be looking to bounce back from a rough shooting game that ended his hot streak. Lee came into Wednesday's contest having averaged 24.6 points and 64.3 percent shooting in his previous five games, but he went 4 of 11 from the field and scored a season-low 12 points against New Jersey.

Lee totaled 40 points and 20 boards as Golden State and Indiana split two meetings in 2010-11.

The home team has won the last eight matchups in this series.

Hill's three-point play lifts Pacers over Warriors

Posted Jan 21 2012 2:05AM

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Just about everything George Hill tried to do to stop Golden State's Monta Ellis failed - until it counted most for Indiana's backup guard.

With Ellis positioning himself for the potential game-winning shot and the clock winding down, Hill literally stepped in the way and saved his team from again getting burned by the Warriors' star guard.

Hill knocked the ball away from Ellis when it bounced off his foot then scored on a three-point play with 1.8 seconds remaining and the Pacers held off a late charge to beat the Warriors 94-91 on Friday night.

It was very reminiscent of the last time these two teams played at Oracle Arena when Ellis made a game-winner against Indiana on a last-second shot.

This time it was Hill who came up with the big play.

"I forced him into some really tough shots all game but him being a great player, they went in his favor and dropped," Hill said. "I just tried to stick with it. What goes around sometimes comes around."

Hill's heroics saved the Pacers from blowing another fourth-quarter lead.

Two nights earlier, Indiana let a 14-point lead slip away and managed just eight points in the final 12 minutes of a 92-88 loss to Sacramento.

The Pacers only led by four in the fourth this time then had to hold on after Ellis nearly brought Golden State back.

"Monta was hitting some terribly difficult shots with good defense on him and that's all we could have asked of George Hill," Indiana coach Frank Vogel said. "When it came down to it, he (isolated) him at the top of the key and made the play of the game."

Although he was credited with a steal, replays showed that the ball actually hit off Hill's foot before bouncing away.

Hill quickly retrieved it then raced the length of the floor for a layup. He was fouled by Stephen Curry and made the free throw for the final margin.

Golden State called a quick timeout and got the ball to Curry coming out of the break, but his 29-footer at the buzzer bounced off the back of the rim.

"It was a tough missed call," Warriors coach Mark Jackson said. "Clearly he kicked the ball. But at the end of the day you don't blame the refs, you blame our team. We should have taken better care of the ball."

Indiana had dropped four straight games on the road at Oracle Arena before Hill's late heroics. Hill, who also blocked a 3-point attempt by Ellis at the end of the first quarter, finished with 14 points.

Danny Granger had 26 points, and Roy Hibbert added 10 points and a career-high 16 rebounds for Indiana, which has won four of five. The Pacers (10-4) are off to their best start since opening the 2003-04 season 13-1.

Ellis finished with 25 points and six assists, while Curry had 12 points in his first game in more than two weeks for Golden State (5-10).

David West added 18 points and seven rebounds for the Pacers.

"It's tough to come in here and win," Hill said. "They've beat some pretty good teams and coach Jackson has them playing well. Luckily the basketball gods were on our side."

This one almost slipped through the Pacers' hands, too.

Granger went into the night averaging 30.5 points over his previous eight games against Golden State and picked up where he left off in the first of two matchups with the Warriors this season.

Indiana's leading scorer, Granger made five of his first seven shots and had 12 points and two assists in the first quarter when the Pacers repeatedly set up shop inside the paint.

Hill added five points and also blocked Ellis' long range shot at the buzzer to keep Indiana's lead at 27-23.

Curry, who played with a heavily taped ankle, showed obvious rust after not playing for 16 days and missed his first four shots before knocking down a pair of long jumpers as part of a 13-4 surge - while four Golden State starters were on the bench.

Dorrel Wright followed by scoring the Warriors' final seven points in the period, including a tying 3-pointer with 53 seconds left.

The two teams traded leads for much of the third quarter until Golden State's big came up big again and outscored Indiana 8-2 over the final 1:27 to give the Warriors a 69-67 lead heading into the fourth.

Wright added 18 points and five rebounds for the Warriors, who have dropped nine of 12.

The Pacers tried to pull away and led by four with 2 minutes remaining but let it slip away before Hill's big play.

Notes: The crowd of 17,621 was the lowest at Oracle Arena this season. ... Warriors C Andres Biedrins had one block to tie George Johnson for seventh-most (507) in franchise history. ... The 25 lead changes in the game are an NBA-high this season.

Notebook: Pacers 94, Warriors 91

By Geoff Lepper, for NBA.com
Posted Saturday January 21, 2012 2:33AM

THE FACTS: George Hill scored on a breakaway layup and ensuing free throw with 1.8 seconds left as the Indiana Pacers pulled out a 94-91 victory against the Golden State Warriors. Danny Granger had a game-high 26 points for the Pacers, who took a tightly contested game in which neither team led by more than six points and the lead changed 25 times. Monta Ellis had 25 points and six assists for the Warriors, but committed a crucial turnover with 3.9 seconds remaining, setting Hill up for his game-winning basket.

TURNING POINT: With the game tied at 91 and the Warriors in possession, Golden State chose to flatten out four players and leave Ellis isolated at the top of the key, holding the ball for a final shot at the buzzer. As Ellis prepared to launch his assault by crossing his dribble over from his right hand to his left, Hill reached in for an attempted strip. The ball caromed off Hill's right foot and, in the absence of a whistle for a kicking violation, Hill grabbed it and sprinted downcourt for the game-winning bucket.

QUOTABLE: "I wasn't intentionally trying to kick anything. I was trying to go for a steal, because we had one (foul) to give. When he crossed, I was so close that it dribbled right off my foot. I didn't hear no whistle, and coach always say, 'Play until you hear the whistle."
-- George Hill.

THE STAT: Indiana forced 18 turnovers from the Warriors, seven in the fourth quarter, and generated 22 points on the evening from those miscues, nine in the last period. That went a long way towards helping the Pacers rescue a road win on a night where they shot just 42.2 percent from the floor, including a combined 3-for-20 from the starting backcourt of Darren Collison (1-12) and Paul George (2-8).

QUOTABLE II: "This team believes in themselves. We let one slip away in Sacramento, but we're 5-0 at home, 5-4 on the road, we got back above .500 (on the road). We knew we were the better team tonight. We just had to come in here and take care of business."
-- Pacers coach Frank Vogel

GOOD MOVE: It wasn't that hard a choice, given that George had struggled mightily for much of the game, but Vogel made the right call in leaving Hill in for the entire fourth quarter to partner Collison and provide another scorer alongside Granger, who had a season-high in points, and David West, who also set a season-best with 18.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Stephen Curry returned after missing eight games due to a sprained right ankle and looked a bit rusty in going 5-for-15 from the floor with three assists canceled out by three turnovers.

HOT: Curry and Ellis combined to carry the Warriors down the stretch. Curry had seven straight points for Golden State, then Ellis closed it out with the team's last six points.

NOT: The Pacers started off the second quarter in an 0-for-9 tailspin against the Warriors' 2-3 zone, allowing Golden State to turn a four-point deficit into a four-point lead in less than 4 minutes. In the fourth quarter, however, Indiana was much more successful attacking when the Warriors sagged back in similar style.

ROOKIE WATCH: Warriors guard Klay Thompson had eight points and, if not for a basket that was wiped out by an illegal screen called on Ekpe Udoh, would have been in double figures for the third straight game.

NOTABLE: Indiana center Roy Hibbert collected a career-high 16 rebounds. . . . Golden State guard Brandon Rush (six points, six rebounds in 20 minutes) and Pacers forward Lou Amundson (0-for-3 from the field in 5 minutes) faced their previous teams for the first time since being dealt for each other on Dec. 19.

UP NEXT: For the Warriors, Monday vs. Memphis, Wednesday vs. Portland, Friday vs. Oklahoma City. For the Pacers, Sunday @ Lakers, Tuesday vs. Orlando, Wednesday @ Chicago.

• Pacers: --
• Warriors: Brown, Wright

• Pacers: --
• Warriors: --

• Lead Changes: 25
• Times Tied: 15

• Arena: ORACLE Arena, Oakland, CA
• Officials: #24 Mike Callahan, #61 Courtney Kirkland, #6 Tony Brown
• Attendance: 17621
• Duration: 2:06