Pacers-Wizards Preview

By KATE HEDLIN
Posted Apr 04 2012 12:52AM

A late rally in their last game helped the Indiana Pacers make a big jump in the Eastern Conference standings.

The Pacers will go for a third straight victory Wednesday night when they visit the lowly Washington Wizards.

Indiana (32-21), which has won seven of 10, took a half-game lead over Orlando for the third seed in the East with a 112-104 win over New York on Tuesday.

Danny Granger scored 14 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, during which Indiana outscored the Knicks 40-17 to rally from a 17-point deficit. Paul George had 12 of his 18 points in the final period.

Granger has scored 25 or more in four of his last six games, and he's 11 of 16 from 3-point range in the past two.

"It's playoff time," Granger said. "We need momentum going into these playoffs. For the first time in a lot of years, we have a really good team and can make a lot of noise."

While the Pacers tightened up their defense in the fourth quarter, holding the Knicks to 35.0 percent shooting, they gave up more than 100 points for a season-high third straight game.

Indiana has faced double-digit deficits in the fourth quarter in its last two games. On Sunday against Houston, the Pacers rallied from 10 down to force overtime en route to a 104-102 win.

George said Indiana needs to get off to a better start in Washington. The Pacers have pulled out a pair of close wins against the Wizards, who own the conference's second-worst record at 12-41, and they lost 100-84 in New Jersey last Wednesday.

"It's all confidence," George said. "We seem to be able to get over the tough games and then fall short (in easier ones) so we've got to move on to the next one."

Indiana will try to separate itself further from Orlando - which is idle Wednesday - when it visits Washington, which has lost two straight and seven of eight.

The Wizards fell 112-98 to Milwaukee on Monday, ending a nine-game stretch of holding opponents to fewer than 100 points. The Bucks shot 51.8 percent and had a 48-35 rebounding advantage.

Jordan Crawford finished with 23 points and John Wall added 14 points and nine assists. Nene and Trevor Booker both missed a second straight game due to foot injuries.

"Hopefully we can get our injured guys back as soon as possible, but if not, we have to find a way to pull through," coach Randy Wittman said. "It is hard being in this situation with some new guys. Some players are not used to certain plays, but that's the nature of this business."

Wittman said fatigue may have been to blame for the lax defense, which could be a bad sign for this week. Wednesday begins a back-to-back-to-back stretch for the Wizards - their second in less than two weeks.

Washington lost all three games when it played on three consecutive nights March 24-26.

The Pacers have won five straight against the Wizards, holding them to 86.0 points but averaging 89.0 in the two meetings this season.

Can't-miss Pacers keep rolling, top Wizards 109-96

By JOSEPH WHITE
Posted Apr 04 2012 10:57PM

WASHINGTON (AP) Danny Granger walked to his locker singing "Nightshift" by the Commodores.

One of his teammates in the other room was belting out "September" by Earth, Wind & Fire.

A couple of can't-miss hits from the past on a can't-miss night for the Indiana Pacers.

The starting lineup shot 71 percent Wednesday and completed a season sweep of the Washington Wizards with a 109-96 victory , taking advantage of a struggling team to get the type of win needed to hold on to the third seed in the Eastern Conference.

"I just think they're depleted," Indiana coach Frank Vogel said. "They have injuries and they have youth, and it's tough to win in the NBA in situations like that. We've got a veteran group that's dialed in to a tight playoff race."

Even with a few late misses from the bench in garbage time, the Pacers still shot a season-high 58 percent as a team. Danny Granger led the way with 20 points, Darren Collison added 17 points and 11 assists, and Tyler Hansbrough and Leandro Barbosa scored 14 points apiece.

Indiana has won three straight and eight of 11 to move a game ahead of Orlando for third in the East.

"These are definitely games you've got to win," Granger said. "You can't take anybody lightly nowadays. Washington almost beat us a couple of weeks ago twice, so we had to come into the game with a lot of focus."

In the lockout-induced compressed schedule, the Pacers and Wizards had their three meetings crammed together near the end of the season, with Indiana winning the first two by a combined six points.

There was no such suspense this time, although the Pacers had their ups and downs. They were hot in the first quarter (87 percent from the field), cold in the second (33 percent), hot in the third (73 percent) and did just enough to pull away in the fourth (40 percent). They blew a 12-point first-quarter lead and trailed by one early in the third before Granger reasserted himself, teaming with Hansbrough and Collison to swing the momentum.

Collison's 21-foot jumper in the final second gave Indiana an 86-74 lead going into the final period, starting a 13-6 run that essentially decided the game.

"In the third and fourth quarter, fatigue wore us down," Washington's John Wall said, "and they took the game away."

Jordan Crawford scored 28 points, Kevin Seraphin had a career-high 19 points and added 10 rebounds, and Wall added 13 points for the Wizards, who have lost eight of nine and again went with a young lineup without injured forwards Nene and Trevor Booker. Both players missed their third straight game with plantar fasciitis in the left foot.

The Pacers were perfect from the field until Granger finally missed the mark with a jump shot with 5:56 to play in the first quarter. By the end of the period, Indiana was 14 for 16 from the field and 8 for 8 from the free throw line, with Granger scoring 13.

The Pacers were making so many shots they didn't have an individual offensive rebound until Lou Amundson's put-back dunk on a fast break with 8:56 to go in the half.

The Wizards are too raw and inexperienced to keep pace on most nights, and this was no exception. Crawford was again streaky - he had 16 in the first quarter and tailed off from there. Wall was again inconsistent - 4 for 15 from the field with five turnovers and just three assists. The Pacers' shooting percentage was the highest allowed by Washington this season.

"They made a lot of shots we couldn't afford," Crawford said. "They got a lot of easy shots. We didn't make them take tough shots."

Notes: The Wizards were playing the first of three games in three nights. They visit Detroit on Thursday and New Jersey on Friday. ... Brian Cook had season highs in points (10) and rebounds (nine) in his seventh game with the Wizards. He previously played 16 games with the Los Angeles Clippers this season.

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

Notebook: Pacers 109, Wizards 96

Posted Wednesday April 4, 2012 11:02PM

By Daimon Eklund, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: The Pacers were nearly perfect in the first quarter, although it took until the third for Indiana to pull away from the Washington Wizards.

Danny Granger scored 20 points and Darren Collison had 17 points and 11 rebounds in the Pacers' 109-96 victory Wednesday night. Indiana, which has now won three in a row and six of eight, held on to the third spot in the Eastern Conference standings.

Jordan Crawford scored 28 points for Washington, and Kevin Seraphin had a career-high 19 points and 10 rebounds. The Wizards have lost eight of their last nine games.

QUOTABLE: "I just think they're depleted. They have injuries and they have youth, and it's tough to win in the NBA in situations like that. We've got a veteran group that's dialed in to a tight playoff race, so it's just a tough matchup."
-- Indiana head coach Frank Vogel.

THE STAT: The Pacers made their first six shots and finished the first quarter 14-of-16 from the floor and 8-for-8 from the free throw line. Indiana finished a season-best 57.9 percent from the field, and was above 60 percent until the final minutes of garbage time. The five starters were a combined 29 of 41 (70.7 percent).

TURNING POINT: Indiana went cold in the second half and took a one-point lead into halftime, then came out in the third with a reprise of their opening shooting performance, going 16 of 22 from the field. The Pacers steadily added to the margin and led by 12 after three quarters. The short-handed Wizards couldn't muster any energy for a comeback, and the lead grew to as many as 21 points in the fourth.

HOT: Collison had the best shooting performance among many good ones for the Pacers, going 7 of 8 from the field and making all four of his shots in the third quarter.

NOT: Wall struggled to create offense, shooting 4-for-15 with five turnovers to three assists.

QUOTABLE II: "They got going offensively. I'll tell you what, to come in at halftime where we were I was really pleased with that, the way they shot the ball. Then they came out in the third quarter and kind of hit us, staggered us a little bit."
-- Washington head coach Randy Wittman.

GOOD MOVE: It was the second game of a back-to-back for the Pacers, so with the game in hand after three quarters, Vogel gave his starters a rest. Four of the five didn't play at all in the final quarter, and Collison logged just three minutes.

BAD MOVE: The Wizards were down 67-63 midway through the third quarter when Jan Vesely got a steal to start a fast break. Crawford pushed the ball ahead and tried a lob that was immediately stuffed by Paul George. The pass was so ill-advised it showed up in the stat sheet as a blocked shot.

QUOTEABLE III: "Did it look like a shot? Nah, I was passing it. You know, I shoot a lot so they add it to the field goals."
-- Crawford

NOTABLE: Indiana center Roy Hibbert had 13 points, four blocked shots and no rebounds. ... Washington forwards Nene and Trevor Booker were both out for the third straight game. Both have plantar fasicitis in the left foot.

UP NEXT: For the Pacers, Friday vs. Thunder, Saturday vs. Celtics, Monday vs. Raptors. For the Wizards, Thursday @ Pistons, Friday @ Nets, Monday @ Bobcats.

• Pacers: Fesenko, Foster
• Wizards: Blatche, Lewis

• Pacers: --
• Wizards: Crawford

• Lead Changes: 8
• Times Tied: 0

• Arena: Verizon Center, Washington, DC
• Officials: #48 Scott Foster, #26 Pat Fraher, #79 Kevin Scott
• Attendance: 14561
• Duration: 2:04