Bobcats-Pacers Preview

By JEFF MEZYDLO
Posted Feb 18 2012 10:15PM

For the first time in more than a month, the Charlotte Bobcats are looking to build on a victory.

Facing the Indiana Pacers will make that a difficult challenge.

After snapping the longest losing streak in franchise history, the visiting Bobcats try to avoid an eighth consecutive defeat to the Pacers on Sunday night.

Charlotte (4-26) still owns easily the worst record in the NBA, but the Bobcats have reason to be excited after they snapped a 16-game skid with a 98-91 win at Toronto on Friday. It was Charlotte's first victory since beating Golden State 112-100 at home Jan. 14.

"Even though it's only our fourth win, it's just a win," said rookie guard Kemba Walker, who had 14 points and eight assists off the bench. "A win is a win. It's been a while. We're overdue."

Reggie Williams scored 22 points, D.J. Augustin had 11 with 10 assists and rookie center Bismack Biyombo pulled down 13 rebounds as the Bobcats ended the losing streak the same day majority owner Michael Jordan celebrated his 49th birthday.

"It's just really good to get the monkey off our back," said veteran forward Corey Maggette, who scored 16 points. "The last 16 times, we've come in the locker room with our heads down. It's good to see our guys really continue to work and stay positive."

Consistently producing positive results could remain difficult considering Charlotte averages an league-low 86.9 points per contest and is 2-15 on the road.

Charlotte has allowed an average of 102.6 points during a seven-game losing streak to the Pacers that dates to a 104-88 home victory Nov. 22, 2009. The Bobcats have also lost six in a row at Indiana since a 115-108 overtime victory there Nov. 28, 2008.

Augustin scored 20 points and had seven rebounds at Indiana on Jan. 7, but the Bobcats shot 32.6 percent and were held to 28 points in the second half of a 99-77 loss.

The Pacers (18-12) also enter this contest with some momentum after they snapped a season-high five-game losing streak with a 93-88 win over New Jersey on Thursday. After missing Wednesday's 98-87 loss at Cleveland, Danny Granger scored 32 points to lead Indiana.

"A lot of times, when you get into a game and the adrenaline starts slowing, you're not in as much pain as you would normally be in," Granger said. "It's been a lot of icing, a lot of pain medication. But I felt it."

Granger hopes his stellar effort will not hinder his chances of playing in this contest. Though he was limited to 13 points against the Bobcats last month, Granger is still averaging 25.9 in his last seven home games versus Charlotte.

"Danny brings a lot," said teammate Paul George, who had 11 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals against the Nets. "He's our best scorer. He defends so well, with Danny out, that definitely hurt us."

Pacers All-Star center Roy Hibbert, who has totaled 30 points in the last two games, scored 20 versus Charlotte earlier this season.

Hibbert leads Pacers to 108-73 win over Bobcats

Posted Feb 20 2012 12:02AM

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Pacers center Roy Hibbert keeps showing why he was recently selected to his first All-Star game. The Charlotte Bobcats keep showing why they have the worst record in the NBA.

Hibbert had 18 points and 14 rebounds to lead Indiana to a 108-73 win over the woeful Bobcats on Sunday.

Danny Granger and David West each scored 14 points for the Pacers, who have won two in a row following a season-long five-game losing streak. West also grabbed eight rebounds.

"We came out ready to play and stuck with our game plan the whole game, for 48 minutes," West said. "We knew that they were capable, so when we jumped on them, we wanted to stay on them."

That's exactly what Indiana did.

The Pacers went on a 21-2 run to start the game and extended the lead to 53-33 at halftime. Charlotte's 73 points were the fewest allowed by Indiana since an 86-73 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Nov. 25, 2010.

"I wish we could win them all like that," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "Our passing was great on the offensive end. David West and Roy Hibbert were really sharp at both ends."

Derrick Brown had 16 points and Kemba Walker 15 for the Bobcats (4-27), who have lost 17 of their last 18 games and never led in this one.

Turnovers and a lack of rebounding by Charlotte gave the Pacers an opportunity to put the game away in the first half. By halftime, they had a 32-18 rebounding advantage, and the Bobcats had committed 10 turnovers.

The Pacers tied a season best of 30 points scored off 19 total turnovers.

West had 10 points in the second and the Pacers went on a 12-0 run midway through the quarter. Indiana extended the lead to as many as 41 in the third.

The Bobcats have yet to put together consecutive wins this season. They snapped a season-worst 16-game skid with a 98-91 victory over Toronto on Friday.

The Bobcats shot just 18.2 percent and trailed 24-12 after the first quarter. They had five turnovers in the first and at one point had more fouls and turnovers than points.

"We got shots, but we didn't make them early on and they did," coach Paul Silas said. "They were tough. We just have to take this upon ourselves to play tougher."

Granger scored seven points and West hit a jumper to extend Indiana's lead to 16-2 midway through the first period.

Reggie Williams scored the first Bobcats points at the 10:04 mark in the first but then they didn't score for more than 7 minutes, until Williams had a dunk.

Walker hit a jumper and Byron Mullens and Brown scored at the free throw line to get Charlotte back within nine.

A.J. Price hit a 3-pointer at the end of the quarter for Indiana to make it 24-12.

"I think the beginning of the game set the whole tone for what happened," Charlotte's Boris Diaw said. "Especially missing so many shots, and things just got too out of hand to come out and be more competitive."

Notes: Indiana G George Hill's status was upgraded to day-to-day for the chip fracture in his left ankle. . Pacers C Jeff Foster is day-to-day with a sore lower back. He played nearly 6 minutes on Sunday. . Hibbert had 20 points in the first meeting between the teams this season, when the Pacers won 99-77 on Jan. 7. ... Bobcats G Gerald Henderson missed his eighth straight game with a right hamstring strain. . The Bobcats are 27th in the NBA in field-goal percentage and score a league-low 86.9 points a game.

Notebook: Pacers 108, Bobcats 73

Posted Sunday February 19, 2012 9:50PM

By Conrad Brunner, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Two minutes into the game, with the score 5-2, Indiana head coach Frank Vogel called a timeout. He had seen an unacceptable defensive breakdown and pointed it out to his team in no uncertain terms. Seven minutes later, the game was effectively over after the Pacers scored the next 16 points, built a 21-2 lead and coasted to a 108-73 rout of the visiting Charlotte Bobcats Sunday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Indiana led by 20 (53-33), doubled that by the end of the third quarter (88-48) and led by as many as 44 points in posting its widest margin of victory ever against Charlotte and its most lopsided overall since 2003 (a 51-point thrashing of the Bulls). Roy Hibbert had his 13th double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds, making 7-of-8 shots in 26 minutes, to lead Indiana (19-12). Charlotte (4-27) was led by Derrick Brown, who scored 16 off the bench.

QUOTABLE: "We had a defensive breakdown and I wanted to send a message. They know what we can be on the defensive end and how it can take us to great things."
-- Vogel on his early timeout.

THE STAT: Charlotte's starting lineup combined for 25 points, 10-of-38 shooting (.263) and 11 turnovers.

TURNING POINT: Vogel's early timeout served to sharpen his team's focus. The Pacers had been plagued by slow starts, particularly on defense -- they had been outscored 94-57 in the first quarters of their previous three games -- and he didn't want it to happen again.

QUOTABLE II: "We came out ready to play and stuck with our game plan the whole game, for 48 minutes. We knew that they were capable, so when we jumped on them we wanted to stay on them. We didn't want to embarrass anybody but we wanted to capitalize on the good practices and hard work on both sides of the ball for tonight and the next day."
-- Indiana forward David West.

HOT: Hibbert missed just one shot, while West was 7 of 10 and had 14 points and eight rebounds in less than 23 minutes. ... Tyler Hansbrough had 13 off the Indiana bench.

NOT: Danny Granger missed all six of his 3-point attempts. ... Charlotte's frontcourt of Bismack Biyombo and Boris Diaw combined to go scoreless with 10 rebounds.

QUOTABLE III: "I think the beginning of the game set the whole tone for what happened, especially missing so many shots and things just got too out of hand to come out and be more competitive. We just didn't come out aggressive enough against a team like this and it seemed like we just dug ourselves deeper into holes." -- Diaw.

GOOD MOVE: Vogel's early timeout, which came after a layup by Reggie Williams with 9:58 left in the first quarter, clearly captured the attention of the Pacers players, who simply dominated the rest of the game defensively.

BAD MOVE: Biyombo was coming off perhaps the best game of his young career with eight points, 13 rebounds and seven blocks in a victory over Toronto but he simply could not contend with Hibbert, missing his two shots and all four free throws and looking thoroughly outclassed.

NOTABLE: The Pacers have held their last two opponents to a total of 161 points and improved to 10-1 in games in which they have held their opponent to less than 90. ... Charlotte's 73 points are the fewest allowed by Indiana this season. ... The Pacers had 22 assists and are 10-1 when they have at least 20. ... Indiana's bench rang up 44 points tonight, matching its highest output of the season. ... George Hill missed his 11th consecutive game with a chip fracture in his left ankle but Vogel said before the game he was progressing and could play as soon as Tuesday against New Orleans or Wednesday in Charlotte. ... The Bobcats were without leading scorer Gerald Henderson (hamstring) for the eighth game in a row.

UP NEXT: For the Pacers, Tuesday vs. New Orleans, Wednesday @ Charlotte, Feb. 28 vs. Golden State. For the Bobcats, Wednesday vs. Indiana, Feb. 29 @ Detroit, March 2 @ San Antonio.

• Bobcats: Henderson, Najera
• Pacers: --

• Bobcats: Silas
• Pacers: --

• Lead Changes: 0
• Times Tied: 0

• Arena: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
• Officials: #48 Scott Foster, #26 Pat Fraher, #77 Karl Lane
• Attendance: 11673
• Duration: 2:11