Pistons-Pacers Preview

By ALAN FERGUSON
Posted Apr 22 2012 10:43PM

Having clinched the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference, the Indiana Pacers are free to focus on regaining their momentum for the playoffs.

They'll try to do that by adding to a lengthy home win streak over the Detroit Pistons on Monday night.

After suffering a close defeat a day earlier, Indiana (41-23) officially wrapped third place in the East with Atlanta's loss to New York on Sunday. The Pacers' finish is their highest since they had the best record in the NBA in 2003-04.

Indiana, though, is coming off the end to its first seven-game win streak since Feb. 28-March 12, 2004, and only its second defeat in 13 games this month.

David West tried to help the Pacers with a season-high 32 points and 12 rebounds Saturday, but they couldn't hold on to a late lead in overtime during a 109-106 defeat to Philadelphia.

"They outplayed us when they had to," forward Tyler Hansbrough said. "We knew they were going to be tough and we were going to need a lift to keep things going our way. We did some good things out there, and we will have to learn from them and carry them over into the playoffs."

The Pacers will try to bounce back by earning an eighth consecutive home win over Detroit (24-40). They might have some help in that attempt after Darren Collison played for only the second time in seven games Saturday.

The point guard has been dealing with a nagging groin injury, while leading scorer Danny Granger had to endure a poor performance against Philadelphia, four points on 2-of-12 shooting.

Granger had at least 18 points in each of his previous 14 contests, but has struggled to get into a rhythm in two games this season against the Pistons. The Pacers forward has averaged 13.5 points - 5.2 below his season mark - on 30.3 percent shooting.

Granger, though, was one of the scoring co-leaders (16 points) in a 91-79 season-opening victory over the Pistons on Dec. 26 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. He was 6 of 18 from the floor in that game and 4 of 15 during a 96-88 loss in Detroit five days later.

The Pistons enter this game having dropped seven of 10 but beat visiting Toronto 76-73 on Sunday. Ben Gordon hit the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 2:44 remaining and tied Brandon Knight for the team scoring lead with 19 points.

"We just stuck it out and tried to be more persistent than they were," Gordon said.

Gordon was one of five starters in double figures during the most recent matchup with Indiana. Jonas Jerebko led the way with 20 points and 12 rebounds but has scored a combined 15 points in his last three games, including two Sunday.

Jerebko has averaged 18.5 points on 60.0 percent shooting in the two games against Indiana, while Hansbrough has led the Pacers with 15.5 per game, his second-best mark against any opponent.

Detroit is 7-25 on the road this season and has beaten one team that currently has a winning record, Boston on Feb. 15, while Indiana is 22-9 at home and hasn't lost to a sub-.500 opponent.

George leads Pacers past Pistons 103-97

By CLIFF BRUNT
Posted Apr 23 2012 10:46PM

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Indiana coach Frank Vogel couldn't have asked for much more Monday night.

Three starters rested, no one got hurt, and the Pacers won.

Paul George scored 12 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter to help Indiana beat the Detroit Pistons 103-97.

"It was a great team win," Vogel said. "A lot of guys contributed, we got guys rest, we got the second unit a ton of work. I think we got a lot accomplished tonight."

George made 13 of 15 free throws and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Pacers. David West scored 20 points and Leandro Barbosa and Tyler Hansbrough added 13 points each for Indiana.

Vogel could afford to rest regular starters Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert and George Hill since Indiana is locked into the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

West, who has scored at least 20 points in four of his past five games, said he wanted to keep playing even though Vogel gave him the option to sit out.

"Frank talked about limiting me a little bit, cutting my minutes down, but just being out there in the flow is most important to me in terms of preparing for the postseason," West said.

West said it was important for some of the starters to play so the Pacers could maintain their momentum. Indiana is 12-2 in April.

"I just think in terms of mental preparation, just want to kind of keep the train going," he said. "We've been playing some good ball. We've been sharing the load in terms of what we're doing. I think it's just a good idea to keep that rolling."

Darren Collison, who has been replaced by Hill as the starting point guard, played with the reserves. He shot 1 fo -8 from the field and committed six turnovers in 31 minutes. He called the situation a "major adjustment."

"Just trying to work my way in with them," Collison said. "Trying to get accustomed with how they play. They've got some good players on the second unit. It can definitely help my game out. I'm just going to have to continue to move forward."

Jeff Pendergraph got his first start as a Pacer and registered season highs of 10 points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes. He said it was good knowing he was going to get serious playing time.

"Just like anything, if you're more calm, more relaxed knowing that you're going to play regardless of if you make a mistake, long as you're playing hard it's all right," he said. "To actually have an opportunity to play hard through your mistakes - I messed up a bunch tonight, but I was playing my butt off and Coach let me keep playing."

Greg Monroe scored 18 points, Brandon Knight had 16 and Tayshaun Prince added 14 for the Pistons.

Detroit held the Pacers to 38 percent shooting, but Indiana forced 18 turnovers and outrebounded the Pistons 56-42. Indiana outscored the Pistons 29-13 from the free-throw line.

"We had great opportunities, but all those extra possessions add up, and it puts you in a situation to make a missed game," Detroit coach Lawrence Frank said. "Unfortunately, tonight we missed."

A three-point play by Hansbrough gave the Pacers an 87-84 lead in the fourth quarter. George made two free throws, then showed why he was in the slam-dunk contest. He took off from the right side of the paint, pulled the ball back and jammed it through with his right hand to give the Pacers a 91-84 lead with 5:23 to play.

A 3-pointer and a runner by Detroit's Charlie Villanueva cut Indiana's lead to 91-89.

Detroit could have taken the lead in the final minute, but Monroe missed two free throws. Hansbrough was fouled on a putback attempt on the other end, and he made both free throws to give Indiana a 99-96 lead with 26.5 seconds to play.

Monroe was fouled on a drive with 20.6 seconds left. He made the first free throw and missed the second, and George got the rebound. George made two free throws with 19.4 seconds to play to give the Pacers a 101-97 lead. George made two more free throws with 9.6 seconds left.

Indiana led 54-52 at halftime behind 13 points by George.

Pendergraph dunked on consecutive possessions to give Indiana a 64-58 lead early in the third quarter. Later, on a fast break, Hansbrough dribbled up the middle of the court like a point guard and found Barbosa for a layup to give Indiana a 73-67 lead. A three-point play by Barbosa moments later pushed the lead to nine.

Consecutive 3s by Prince and Knight, and a goaltending violation by the Pacers on a shot by Prince in close cut Indiana's lead to 76-75 at the end of the third quarter.

George's strong fourth quarter helped the Pacers close the game out. He shot 2-for-4 from the field and made all eight of his free throws in the final 12 minutes. It was another step towards what Indiana expects to be a successful postseason run.

"Everybody pitched in as we should," West said. "We must compete every night, no matter who we are playing. This is the way we want to head into the playoffs."

Notes: Indiana C Kyrylo Fesenko, who had played 11 minutes all season since being picked up as a free agent at midseason, had four points in 6 minutes. ... Monroe was issued a technical foul in the third quarter. ... Detroit F Jonas Jerebko didn't play for the second straight game. The Pistons are taking a closer look at Austin Daye. ... Indiana's Dahntay Jones made his third start of the season.

--

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

Notebook: Pacers 103, Pistons 97

Posted Monday April 23, 2012 10:40PM

By Conrad Brunner, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Two starters turned out to be just enough for the Indiana Pacers. With the third seed in the East wrapped up and nothing to gain in the final two regular-season games, Coach Frank Vogel gave three starters the night off but the other two went to work. Paul George scored 12 of his 27 in the fourth quarter and David West added 20 as the Pacers held off the Pistons 103-97 Monday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Vogel sat George Hill (shoulder) and Danny Granger (knee) to help recovery from nagging injuries and Roy Hibbert just for extra rest and Indiana played a spirited game, relinquishing the lead only briefly in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter and staving off a late rally. The Pacers improved to 42-23, while Detroit dropped to 24-41.

QUOTABLE: "We wanted the win after the other night (a loss to Philadephia). We wanted to get back on track and show that we still have it. Jeff (Pendergraph) really gave us a pickup tonight, was very productive and instrumental in this win. Everybody pitched in as we should. We must compete every night no matter who we are playing. This is the way that we want to head into the playoffs."
-- West

THE STAT: West scored at least 20 points for the fourth time in five games and has averaged 21.6 in that span. He did so four times in the first 60 games.

TURNING POINT: George scored eight in a 15-7 run, including a soaring dunk that put the Pacers up 91-84 with 5:32 left. Detroit rallied to within a point and had a chance to take the lead but Greg Monroe missed two free throws with 41.7 seconds left. Tyler Hansbrough pulled a huge offensive rebound, was fouled and made both to put Indiana up 99-96 and Monroe again came up short at the line, missing one of two and forcing the Pistons to foul. George made two pairs in the final 20 seconds to close out the scoring.

QUOTABLE II: "It was a great team win. A lot of guys contributed, we got guys rest. We got the second unit a ton of work. I think we got a lot accomplished tonight. We'll play the Chicago game closer to our regular rotation excepting Danny being out."
-- Vogel

HOT: George was 13 of 15 from the free throw line, both career highs, and added 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals in his second double-double of the season. ... Hansbrough (13 points, eight rebounds) and Leandro Barbosa (13 points, nine rebounds, four steals) were productive off the Indiana bench. ... Detroit's Brandon Knight made three 3-pointers and scored 16. ... Monroe had 18 points and 12 rebounds for his 30th double-double.

NOT: In his third game as a reserve, Indiana's Darren Collison shot 1-of-8 and committed six turnovers in 31 minutes. ... The Pacers were 4-of-15 from the arc and failed to make a second-half 3-pointer for the second game in a row. ... Monroe missed four free throws as the Pistons were 13 of 22 (.591) from the line. ... Monroe also had five turnovers.

QUOTABLE III: "The game came down to free throws and rebounds. We gave up 32 second-chance points. Going into the game we knew they were the sixth-best rebounding team in the league. At the end of the day, we had great opportunities, but all those extra possessions add up and it puts you in a situation to make a missed game. Unfortunately, tonight we missed."
-- Detroit Coach Lawrence Frank

GOOD MOVE: With the Pacers up 89-84 midway through the fourth quarter, George worked a high pick-and-roll, took a couple of hard dribbles and took flight down the middle of the lane, throwing down a massive dunk that brought the crowd to its feet and put the Pacers ahead by seven with 5:32 remaining.

BAD MOVE: After the Pistons cut it to 97-96 they had two possessions with the chance to take the lead and Monroe botched both. On the first, he threw a pass out of bounds. On the second, he missed two free throws.

NOTABLE: The Pacers had 22 offensive rebounds leading to 32 second-chance points. ... Indiana also held a 22-9 advatage in fast-break points. ... In his first start since the 2009-10 season, Jeff Pendergraph scored 10 with seven rebounds in 18 minutes. ... The Pacers had advantages of 32-12 on second-chance points and 22-9 on fast-break points to offset 38 percent shooting overall, 4-of-15 (.267) from the 3-point line. ... Price, also making his first start in two years, led the Pacers with six assists. ... Indiana's lineup of Price, George, Dahntay Jones, West and Pendergraph was just the fourth of the season, the fewest combinations in the league. The Pacers averaged more than 20 lineups in each of the previous four seasons. ... Monroe picked up a technical foul with 7:02 left in the third quarter for complaining about a no-call. ... Price also made his first start in two seasons. ... Hill and Hibbert may play limited roles in Wednesday's regular-season finale against Chicago but Granger will not play again until the postseason.

UP NEXT: For the Pacers, Wednesday vs. Chicago. For the Pistons, Thursday vs. Philadelphia.

• Pistons: Wallace
• Pacers: Foster, Granger

• Pistons: Monroe
• Pacers: --

• Lead Changes: 9
• Times Tied: 7

• Arena: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
• Officials: #19 James Capers, #66 Haywoode Workman, #35 Kane Fitzgerald
• Attendance: 13584
• Duration: 2:20