Pacers-Wizards Preview

By JEFF MEZYDLO
Posted Mar 22 2012 12:15AM

A pair of trade deadline acquisitions have already paid off for the Indiana Pacers and Washington Wizards.

Each team looks to build on its latest victory Thursday night when the visiting Pacers try for a fourth consecutive win over the Wizards.

Indiana (26-18) just said goodbye to forward Jeff Foster, who retired after 13 seasons Wednesday, but the Pacers are excited about the addition of veteran guard Leandro Barbosa. Acquired from Toronto for a second-round pick to add backcourt depth, Barbosa provided a spark in his first game with his new club by scoring 12 points in 18 minutes off the bench during Tuesday's 102-89 home win over the Los Angeles Clippers.

"I think Leandro is going to be a big lift for us, he's just going to feed into the energy off the bench, and the fast break style we bring this year," said Indiana forward Tyler Hansbrough, who scored 17 points.

Barbosa, who averaged 12.2 points in 43 games for the struggling Raptors, is thrilled about his new opportunity to contribute to a playoff contender.

"I'm very excited to come in and play with the second group," Barbosa said. "They run like crazy, so it was enjoyable."

Hansbrough and Barbosa helped Indiana's reserves outscore the Clippers' bench 50-23 as the Pacers avoided a seventh loss in nine games.

After Danny Granger totaled 20 points on 9-of-30 shooting in the previous two games - both losses to New York - the veteran forward scored 25 against the Clippers while shooting slightly better from the field - 7 of 17.

Granger has averaged 21.3 points on 55.0 percent shooting during Indiana's three-game winning streak against the Wizards. He had 21 points and 10 rebounds in a 113-96 win at Washington on Feb. 22, 2011.

While the Pacers are happy to have Barbosa in the mix, the Wizards (11-34) should be excited about the addition of fellow Brazilian Nene.

In his first game since being acquired from Denver in a three-team trade last week that also involved the Clippers, Nene had 22 points and 10 rebounds Wednesday as Washington avoided a third consecutive defeat with a 108-89 victory at New Jersey.

"It's been a crazy few days," said Nene, who struggled with injuries this season while averaging 13.4 points and 7.4 rebounds in 24 games with the Nuggets. "The team gave me a lot of support, and the city is giving me a lot of support. I just tried to work hard and tried to have fun with the new players."

Nene should provide some much-needed punch for a Washington offense that ranks near the bottom of league with 94.1 points per game.

"You know Nene is capable of getting 20 and 10," said new teammate Roger Mason Jr., who added 16 points against the Nets. "Some of the younger guys can learn a lot from him."

Nene has averaged 14.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in his last seven games versus Indiana.

After scoring 22 points in a 97-92 loss at Memphis on Sunday, Jordan Crawford had a game-high 23 at New Jersey as the Wizards salvaged a second win in the finale of a six-game road trip.

Washington has won back-to-back games once this season, Feb. 12 and 14 at Detroit and Portland.

Pacers rally from 22 down to beat Wizards, 85-83

By JOSEPH WHITE
Posted Mar 22 2012 11:28PM

WASHINGTON (AP) The Indiana Pacers put on such a show in the final 70 seconds, it's hard to know where to start.

How about David West getting three offensive rebounds with a taped left pinkie that was dislocated in the third quarter. Or Paul George hitting the 3-pointer that completed a 22-point comeback to give the Pacers their first lead of the game. Or Darren Collison hustling back to steal an inbounds pass after George's basket.

And, yeah, then there was George doing a bang-up job guarding John Wall on the game's final possession, forcing Wall to dribble out the clock before getting a shot off to preserve the Pacers' 85-83 victory Thursday night.

"Lucky for us," George said, "he took a lot of time off the clock."

Roy Hibbert scored 19 points, Danny Granger had 16, and West and George finished with 13 apiece for the Pacers, whose final spurt made up for an abysmal first half in which they were outshot and outrun by one of the worst teams in the NBA.

Indiana roared back to outrebound Washington 26-11 after halftime and allow only 11 field goals in the second half, but it's the final sequence that showed the hustle of a team determined to come all the way back.

With 1:06 remaining, George missed a 3-pointer that would have given the Pacers the lead, but West grabbed the rebound and got the ball back to George for another try. This one was good, and Indiana was up 84-83 with 1:01 to go.

Then Collison swopped in and alertly picked off Nene's nonchalant inbounds pass.

"We call Darren `The Wizard' - he just magically appears sometimes," Hibbert said. "I'm running down the court - like a fellow player that used to play here - and then the next thing I know we have the ball back."

The "fellow player that used to play here," by the way, is a reference to JaVale McGee, whose blooper lowlights included the time he ran downcourt to play defense while the Wizards still had the ball. Washington traded McGee last week.

The Pacers missed two more jumpers in the final minute, but West was there both times to keep the ball in Indiana's hands, even though he had his pinkie go the wrong way while reaching for a rebound early in the second half.

"Seriously, he dislocated his finger and he was able to tip the ball out," Hibbert said. "It shows how strong-willed he is. He was putting on an offensive rebounding clinic down there. He's a big reason why we won tonight, probably the reason why we won."

Added coach Frank Vogel: "That's the best end-of-game defense you can possibly have, right? Don't let them get the ball."

The Wizards finally had to foul, and Collison made 1 of 2 free throws with 9.5 seconds remaining. Washington called timeout to set up a final play, but Wall dribbled and dribbled trying to escape George before sinking a 12-footer - just after time expired.

"I tried to create something," Wall said, "but there wasn't enough spacing for me to create."

Jordan Crawford finished with 21 points, Chris Singleton matched his career-high with 16 points, and Wall had 16 points and nine assists for the Wizards, who outrebounded the Pacers 24-14 in the first half and had an 18-2 advantage in fast-break points at halftime.

"In the second half, we always for some reason get stagnant," Wall said. "We don't move. You see it turns into taking bad shots."

Down by 22 in the second quarter and 20 at halftime, Indiana put together an 11-0 third-quarter run led by Granger, and then rode Hibbert through the middle of the fourth quarter to stay close.

"That's just us not throwing in the towel," George said. "A lot of times when you're down like that, you tend to play out of character. We stuck to ourselves and our identity."

NOTES: Nene, a trade-deadline acquisition playing his second game with the Wizards, was the catalyst for his team's 6 for 6 start in the first quarter, but he was quiet the rest of the game and finished with six points, five rebounds and three turnovers. ... Indiana's deadline pickup, Leandro Barbosa, was also playing his second game with his new team and finished with two points in 15 minutes. ... Wizards F Andray Blatche, who has been booed frequently at home all season and needs to get himself back into shape following a recent calf injury, sat out for the second straight game to work on his conditioning. "They the fans - they see it. My mom sees it. This was a bad year for me, one of my worst ever," Blatche said. "I let my mom down, my family down, my teammates, the whole organization down this season."

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Joseph White can be reached at http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP

Notebook: Pacers 85, Wizards 83

Posted Thursday March 22, 2012 11:36PM

By Ben Standig, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Down 22 points in the first half, the Indiana Pacers stormed back after halftime, took their first lead on Paul George's 3-pointer with 1:01 remaining and defensively held the Washington Wizards without a shot on their final possession to preserve a 85-83 win on Thursday night.

Roy Hibbert led the Pacers with 19 points and energized the comeback after Indiana trailed 51-31 at halftime. Despite injuring his finger in the third quarter, David West provided extra possessions late with three offensive rebounds inside the final 1:04 including a tip out to George who's 3-pointer gave the Pacers a 84-83 lead. Darren Collison promptly stole the inbounds pass and then with West's rebounds nearly ran out the clock.

Jordan Crawford's 21 points led the Wizards while John Wall and Chris Singleton added 16 each. Washington led after each of the first three quarters and 66-57 after three, but trailed by two points following a Collison free throw with 9.5 seconds left. Wall then dribbled out the clock accidentally, as his potential game-tying floater came after the final buzzer, spoiling the home debut of newly-acquired center Nene.

QUOTABLE: "At halftime we talked about how in certain games shots aren't falling, you have to win the game in the trenches with defense and rebounding. We came out with the mindset we wanted to smack them with our defense, take their air space and our guys rose to the challenge held them to 33 percent in the second half."
-- Pacers coach Frank Vogel

THE STAT: Including West's late-game board work, the Pacers outrebounded the Wizards 26-11 in the second half. All nine of Hibbert's rebounds came after halftime.

TURNING POINT: The Pacers cut into the lead with a 15-2 run in the third quarter, but still trailed by six points with less than four minutes remaining before surging into the lead with a 7-0 run, highlighted by West's offensive boards, George's go-ahead score and Collison's magical steal as he intercepted Nene's soft inbounds pass.

QUOTABLE II: "We call Darren 'The Wizard', He just magically appears sometimes. I'm running down the court -- like a fellow player that used to play here -- and then the next thing I know we have the ball back so I'm like 'oh, I have to get back down the court.'" I'm happy he got the ball. I still don't know how he got it.
--Hibbert

HOT: Playing in the first game of a three games-in-three nights stretch, Danny Granger scored 15 of 16 points during the second-half rally. The 6-foot-9 forward sank 5-of-8 shots after halftime, including his lone 3-pointer and made all four of his free throw attempts.

NOT: Making his Wizards home debut, Nene knocked down his only two first-quarter shots, but then missed his six of his final seven attempts from the field and finished with six points.

QUOTABLE III: "In the final possession and in the final minute, every rebound went to the Pacers. It was frustrating and we just couldn't get the ball. That was just a great job on their end of just rebounding and tipping the ball out."
-- Wall

GOOD MOVE: Vogel made sure to have the 6-foot-8 George guarding the blinding fast Wall on the final possession. The agile and long limbed defender denied the Wizards point guard space near the 3-point line and forced him toward his interior help. Collectively they denied Wall's options and the shot clock expired.

NOTABLE: The Wizards' 51-31 lead after two quarters matched their largest halftime margin this season. The 31 points matched the Pacers first half low on the season.

UP NEXT: For the Pacers, Friday vs. Phoenix, Saturday @ Milwaukee, Monday vs. Miami. For the Wizards, Saturday vs. Atlanta, Sunday @ Boston, Monday vs. Detroit.

• Pacers: Foster
• Wizards: Lewis

• Pacers: --
• Wizards: --

• Lead Changes: 1
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: Verizon Center, Washington, DC
• Officials: #41 Ken Mauer, #42 Eric Lewis, #54 Nick Buchert
• Attendance: 15874
• Duration: 2:13