Clippers-Pacers Preview

By MATT BEARDMORE
Posted Mar 19 2012 3:12PM

The Los Angeles Clippers' offense hasn't been overly impressive recently, but Chris Paul's late-game heroics have carried the team to a pair of wins.

The Indiana Pacers need someone to step up to help stop their slide.

Los Angeles opens a set of back-to-back-to-back road games Tuesday night when the Pacers try to avoid a seventh loss in nine games.

After dropping three of four to open their six-game homestand, the Clippers (26-18) finished that grueling eight-day stretch with four-point victories over Houston and Detroit. While Los Angeles averaged just 91.0 points on 40.5 percent shooting in those wins, Paul made half of his 30 shots and totaled 42 points.

He scored 12 of his 23 in the final 2:42 of Saturday's 95-91 win over the Rockets, then had nine of his 19 in overtime Sunday in an 87-83 victory over the Pistons.

The All-Star point guard is among the NBA's best with an average of 6.9 points in the fourth quarter.

"You'd be hard-pressed to find a better guy with the ball late in the game than Chris in this league," said coach Vinny Del Negro, whose team next gets back-to-back days off April 20-21.

While the Clippers sit 1 1/2 games back of the Los Angeles Lakers for the Pacific Division lead, the Pacers (25-18) have virtually no shot of catching the league-best Chicago Bulls in the Central Division after losing six of eight following a season-best 6-0 run.

Indiana has scored over 100 points twice in its last eight games after doing so in each of its previous five.

"Our offense just isn't working," forward Danny Granger said Saturday after the Pacers were swept in a home-and-home set by New York with a 102-88 home loss. "We're not getting the job done. Our goal is to win games, and we're not going to win games this way."

Perhaps the addition of veteran guard Leandro Barbosa will provide a spark. Acquired from Toronto on Thursday for a second-round draft pick and cash, Barbosa is expected to make his Pacers debut Tuesday. He scored a team-high 19 points for the Raptors in a 103-91 road loss to the Clippers on Jan. 22.

While Indiana needs to get its offense in gear, it faces a stiff test against All-Star forward Blake Griffin, who had a career-high 47 points in the last meeting, a 114-107 home win for the Clippers on Jan. 17, 2011.

Given the outside shot by the Pacers, Griffin hit a number of tough jumpers and made a career-best 19 field goals while also grabbing 14 rebounds.

Griffin had 12 points with eight boards as the Clippers were routed 107-80 in their last visit to Indianapolis on Nov. 18, 2010.

The Pacers have won four in a row against Western Conference foes and are 9-3 against teams outside the East.

The Clippers have won 11 of 15 against the East, taking four of six on the road.

Granger leads Pacers past Clippers, 102-89

By CLIFF BRUNT
Posted Mar 21 2012 12:03AM

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) First, there was a layup.

Then, there was a 30-foot 3-pointer. Then another layup.

In a 2-minute span in the second quarter, Leandro Barbosa showed Indiana Pacers fans why the team traded for him last week. Barbosa scored 12 points in 18 minutes in his Pacers debut, and Indiana beat the Los Angeles Clippers 102-89 on Tuesday night.

Barbosa, acquired in a trade with Toronto, relishes his role as a reserve on what he considers a promising team.

"I think my teammates really helped me to be out there and be comfortable," he said. "I'm very happy to get the first win at home. I'm very excited to come in and play with the second group. It's the energy group and they run like crazy, so it was enjoyable."

Even though Barbosa is in his ninth year, he was concerned about fitting in on a team that had been successful before he arrived.

"I was nervous," he said. "As soon as I got the first basket, I was OK to finish the game."

Reserves Barbosa, Tyler Hansbrough and George Hill led a bench that outscored the Clippers' reserves 50-23. Hansbrough scored 17 points and Hill had 15.

Hansbrough was glad to see Barbosa get hot right away.

"I think Leandro is going to be a big lift for us, he's just going to feed into the energy that I bring off the bench, and the fast break style we bring this year," Hansbrough said.

Hill made 6 of 7 shots and had six assists.

"I think George Hill was definitely the game-changer tonight," Los Angeles guard Chris Paul said. "I don't remember him missing. He shot lights out."

Hansbrough made 7 of 10 field goals, helping the reserves make 21 of 35 shots. The bench supported Danny Granger, who led the way with 25 points.

Granger was thrilled to see the bench perform so well.

"They kind of came in like a pit bull tonight," he said. "When you have a group that plays really well together and you have scorers and you have rebounders on the second unit, that's really a luxury a lot of teams don't have."

Blake Griffin had 23 points and 10 rebounds, and Paul added 16 points and eight assists for Los Angeles. The Clippers made just 9 of 20 free throws while the Pacers made 24 of 26. Griffin made 2 of 7.

"We have to keep trying to get better," Paul said. "The free-throw line is where you can win or lose games. We have to get better as a team."

It was a chippy game in which players had to be separated several times but no punches were thrown. Hansbrough and Griffin were involved in the most intense confrontation.

"It was nothing," Hansbrough said. "It was a just a physical game. Some things happened, so that was that."

Granger had been in a scoring slump, managing just 20 points combined in consecutive losses to the New York Knicks. He shot 7 for 17 against the Clippers, but added eight rebounds and made all eight of his free throws.

Indiana led 54-46 at halftime on the strength of 32 points from its bench. Hansbrough had 15 points and Barbosa added nine.

Los Angeles got going early in the third quarter. Griffin's two-handed jam off a lob from Paul brought the crowd to life and left the backboard shaking. Paul followed with a 3-pointer and a jumper that cut it to 56-55. The Clippers tied it at 62 on Nick Young's 3-pointer.

Hibbert had a three-point play, and Granger hit a pair of 3-pointers to give the Pacers a 71-62 lead. The Pacers held the Clippers scoreless for 4:10 during the 11-0 run.

Indiana led 78-66 at the end of the third quarter. Granger scored 10 points in the period, and the Pacers held the Clippers to 8-for-22 shooting in the quarter.

A 3-point play by Barbosa pushed Indiana's lead to 90-72 with just under 8 minutes to play. The Clippers rallied once more, but Hill's 3-pointer with just over 3 minutes left pushed Indiana's lead to 98-84.

"We just stopped making shots," Griffin said. "A lot of shots that we normally hit did not go down, and that's going to happen. That's why we need to rely on our defense, and it hasn't really been there. That's what's going to happen until we get it figured out."

Notes: Barbosa entered the game with 2:14 left in the first quarter. His first basket was a layup with 11:17 left in the second quarter. ... Pacers F Lou Amundson went from scoring a career-high 21 points against Portland on March 13 to going scoreless in back-to-back games. ... Griffin made a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired in the first quarter, just his second 3-point goal of the season in 10 attempts. ... Pacers G Dahntay Jones drew a technical foul in the second quarter. ... Young got his first start for the Clippers since moving from Washington to Los Angeles as part of a three-team trade. He finished with 13 points on 5-for-13 shooting.

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Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/cliffbruntap

Notebook: Pacers 102, Clippers 89

Posted Tuesday March 20, 2012 11:10PM

By Conrad Brunner, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: One of the primary byproducts of Indiana's acquisition of Leandro Barbosa is more time at the point for George Hill. The early returns from both players were remarkably positive. Barbosa scored 12 points with three assists in 18 minutes in his debut with the Pacers while Hill had 15 points, six assists and zero turnovers as the Pacers snapped a two-game losing streak with a 102-89 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers Tuesday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Indiana's second unit held a dominant 50-23 scoring advantage as Hill, Barbosa and Tyler Hansbrough (17 points) all had big nights. Blake Griffin led the Clippers with 23 points and 10 rebounds but did most of his damage in the first half. Indiana improved to 26-18 while L.A. (26-19) opened a back-to-back-to-back stretch, all on the road, by snapping a two-game win streak.

QUOTABLE: "My teammates, they really helped me to be comfortable out there. First of all, I'm very happy to get the first win at home. I was very excited to play with the second group, it's an energy group and we run like crazy so it was enjoyable. And to see the fans cheering for us when we bring that energy was just great. I'm very happy to be here."
-- Barbosa

THE STAT: Indiana's second unit has scored at least 44 points in four of the last five games and is averaging 43.4 in that span, well above the season average of 29.9.

TURNING POINT: The second unit changed the game in the first half, scoring 19 of the points in a 21-6 run that turned a 30-23 Indiana deficit into a 44-36 advantage. The starters blew it open in the second as Roy Hibbert had a three-point play and Danny Granger hit consecutive 3-pointers as Indiana pushed the advantage to 73-62 late in the third period to take full control.

QUOTABLE II: "We owned the airspace. We played a more physical game, went back to the way we play, really not focused on the offensive end, focused on the defensive end. Any time we can focus on the defensive end, the offense will take care of itself. We have a lot of guys on this team that can score the ball but we have to be willing to defend. When we do that, we're all right."
-- Hill

HOT: Hill made 6-of-7 shots, including all three of his 3-pointers. Hansbrough was 7-of-10 as Indiana's second unit combined to shoot 21 of 35 (.600). ... Griffin shot 10 of 18, while Chris Paul was 6-of-11 and scored 16.

NOT: Indiana's starters combined to shoot 14 of 38 (.368), even with Granger scoring a game-high 25. He shot 7 of 17.

QUOTABLE III: "George Hill and Barbosa, who just got here, are both fast. Granger is a handful. I thought we did a good job on Paul George. I thought Hansbrough's first half really set the tone. The free throws and their bench are really what bothered us. We didn't shoot the ball well enough and they got a lot of production from a lot of guys tonight."
- Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro

GOOD MOVE: With Hill playing well in the second half, Vogel stuck with the backup point guard down the stretch and it paid off as Hill made a number of key buckets, including a pair of 3-pointers late in the shot clock and a heady lead pass that Barbosa converted into a three-point play.

BAD MOVE: Del Negro used a zone defense for much of the fourth quarter but the Pacers had no problems against it, stretching the lead to 19.

NOTABLE: In addition to Barbosa's debut with the Pacers, Nick Young made his first start with the Clippers, scoring 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting, 1-of-6 from the 3-point line. With Young in the lineup, Randy Foye shifted to the bench and in fact picked up his first DNP-CD of the season. ... Tempers flared in the second half, as Hansbrough and Griffin got tangled up under the bucket, and Paul and Lou Amundson likewise locked up tumbling into the Pacers bench at the end of the third quarter. Both incidents prompted brief scrums but no technical fouls. ... Adding Barbosa to the mix shakes up Indiana's second unit rotations. Hill, who has played almost exclusively at shooting guard, will spend more time backing up Darren Collison at the point. That knocks A.J. Price, who had been playing well, out of the rotation. ... Jeff Foster missed his ninth straight game and 33rd of the season with a sore back. His status is scheduled to be re-evaluated this week.

UP NEXT: For the Pacers, Thursday @ Washington, Friday vs. Phoenix, Saturday @ Milwaukee. For the Clippers, Wednesday @ Oklahoma City, Thursday @ New Orleans, Saturday vs. Memphis.

• Clippers: Billups
• Pacers: Foster

• Clippers: --
• Pacers: Jones

• Lead Changes: 6
• Times Tied: 9

• Arena: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
• Officials: #27 Dick Bavetta, #10 Ron Garretson, #45 Brian Forte
• Attendance: 14901
• Duration: 2:17