Player of the Game
ROY HIBBERT
Finished the road trip strong, scoring 22 points, including 12-of-12 from the free-throw line, adding six rebounds, five blocked shots and two assists in 26 minutes.
Plus-Minus
Name Game Season
Dunleavy -7 -74
Ford +8 -182
Foster DNP -9
Granger -1 -113
Hansbrough DNP -56
Head DNP +14
Hibbert +3 -31
D. Jones DNP -225
S. Jones DNP -161
McRoberts -11 -33
Murphy -4 -362
Price -7 +14
Rush -5 -242
Watson -16 -200
Noteworthy
  • Mike Dunleavy left the game with a chest contusion midway through the third quarter, the result of a collision with a driving Jason Richardson. He did not return.
  • Suns forward Channing Frye left the game briefly with a right shoulder subluxation but returned in the second quarter.
  • Josh McRoberts and Louis Amundson tangled briefly in the second quarter, resulting in a double foul and double technicals.
  • Troy Murphy had his 26th double-double of the season by halftime.
  • The Pacers have allowed 115.8 points in their last five road games.
    • Hustle Board
    Points in the paint:
    Suns 42, Pacers 34
    Second-chance points:
    Pacers 32, Suns 24
    Fast-break points:
    Pacers 13, Suns 11
    Points off turnovers:
    Pacers 22, Suns 16
    Starters scoring:
    Suns 88, Pacers 85
    Bench scoring:
    Suns 25, Pacers 20
    Stat of the Night
    The Pacers, who rank last in the league with an average of 11 second-chance points per game, racked up a season-high 32.
    Up Next
    The Pacers return home to face Philadelphia Tuesday at Conseco Fieldhouse (7 p.m., Fox Sports Indiana, 1070 The Fan).
    Related links
  • Blog replay
  • Video
  • Box score
  • Recap
    • More Video: Watson to Granger for the flush
    END RESULT
    Playing their fourth road game in five nights against elite competition, the Pacers summoned the energy and emotion to battle Phoenix down to the wire but the Suns emerged from a wild game with a 113-105 victory Saturday night.

    The game featured eight technical fouls, one ejection and a tense altercation late in the third quarter that required a delay of several minutes for the officials to sort out during a physical, back-and-forth duel with 16 ties and 12 lead changes Amare Stoudemire led Phoenix with 30 while Danny Granger scored 24 for the Pacers.

    IMPACT
    The Pacers lost their fourth straight overall and sixth in a row on the road, falling to 20-43 overall and 7-27 on the road. They finished 1-14 on the road against Western Conference teams. Phoenix improved to 40-25 overall and 24-8 at home, winning for the 14th time in 18 games and snapping a two-game losing streak to the Pacers.

    QUOTEWORTHY
  • "Four games in five nights on a tough road trip; we competed our hearts out, just didn’t come away with what we needed to.” – Jim O'Brien
  • "I love it, I absolutely love it. When you can get an entire auditorium chanting 'you (stink),' that’s pretty nice I think.” – Granger on the Phoenix fans
  • “They were playing dirty and (throwing) cheap shots at one of my teammates. That’s the tale of the tape. Watch the tape yourself and you’ll see what happened.” – Granger on the altercation
  • “I think tonight was the first time, even though we lost, really played together. We were scrapping and really wanted this win. Unfortunately we didn’t come away with it.” – Roy Hibbert

    KEY MOMENTS
    Though they could not find their shooting stroke in the first half, hitting .347 from the field, the Pacers pounded the offensive glass for 24 second-chance points and committed just four turnovers to keep it close. It was tied 40-all when the Suns went on a 13-4 run to open a 53-44 advantage. Stoudemire then heated up to score nine in a row for the Suns as they built a 63-51 lead. But Danny Granger hit a 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds left, then Earl Watson came up with a steal and a fallaway corner 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut the lead in half and the Pacers were down just 63-57 at the break.

    Two more 3-pointers, from Troy Murphy and Brandon Rush, tied it at 67-all early in the third and the game remained close deep into the period. Phoenix led 87-83 when things got a little too physical. As Steve Nash drove for a layup with 46.7 seconds left in the period, Channing Frye reacted to being fouled by Watson and pushed the guard from behind. Granger stepped in and Frye threw a punch toward Granger that missed. Roy Hibbert and Jason Richardson also became involved in the entanglement.

    The result was an ejection for Frye and technical fouls for Granger, Hibbert and Richardson. The event supercharged the sellout crowd of 18,180 and seemed to energize the Suns, who surged into a 96-86 lead early in the fourth quarter on Richardson's 3-pointer.

    Roy Hibbert helped bring the Pacers back with four points and an assist in a 6-0 run and the Pacers stayed within striking distance but ultimately could not strike. Their last chance came in the closing minutes when, down 109-103, they had three open 3-pointers on one possession but missed them all. Stoudemire then made a pair of free throws to put it away.

    BY THE NUMBERS
    Granger shot 9-of-23 overall and 3-of-7 from the arc for his 24 points, adding seven rebounds. Hibbert troubled the Suns inside most of the night, making 12-of-12 free throws and scoring 22 with six rebounds and five blocks before fouling out. Murphy had a strong game with 19 points, 16 rebounds and two blocks, and Rush scored 13 despite 3-of-13 shooting. The Pacers shot .376 overall and were 9-of-26 (.346) from the 3-point line.

    Stoudemire also made a living at the line, hitting 14 of 16 on his way to 30 with six rebounds and two blocks. Grant Hill scored 10 of his 22 from the line. Richardson made four 3-pointers and scored 20, while Nash had 12 points and five assists. Jared Dudley had 11 points and 12 rebounds off the bench. The Suns shot .439 and outrebounded the Pacers 58-44.

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