vs.

Owens		 Point
Guard
Billups

Granger		 Shooting
Guard
Allen

Dunleavy		 Small
Forward
Prince

Murphy		 Power
Forward
McDyess

Foster		 Center
Wallace

O'Brien		 Coach
Saunders

Improvement not enough for Pacers

By Conrad Brunner | Feb. 13, 2008


PACERS at DETROIT
Tonight, 7:30 p.m.
The Palace
TV: FSN-Indiana
Radio: WFNI 1070-AM
Improvement is nice. Jim O'Brien has seen plenty of signs along those lines in recent weeks as the Pacers have pushed many of the best teams in the NBA down to the wire.

Winning, however, is nicer. And those opportunities have slipped from the Pacers' fingers all too often in recent weeks. Their 104-97 loss to Boston Tuesday night was the sixth time in three weeks they lost a game they were in position to win in the fourth quarter. After facing the NBA's best team at home, they now must face the hottest on the road.

Detroit (38-13) has won nine in a row, the longest streak in the league, and is going for its first season sweep of the Pacers since 1984-85. In the last two meetings, Indiana followed its familiar pattern of coming up dry in the closing minutes and losing close decisions.

"You have to make sure that you have a good shot every time down and you’re not turning the basketball over and you’re playing at a tempo that we think is conducive to our talent," said O'Brien. "Defensively, you have to be tied together. If you’re not tied together against a team like Boston or a team like Detroit they pound you and you don’t put yourself in a position to win. So that’s something that we talk about and work on every day and it’s started to show up. Over the last couple of weeks we started to do some good things, but we have to do it for 48 minutes against really good basketball teams."

The Pacers trailed the Pistons 90-89 with 2:42 remaining on Dec. 29 but missed four of their next five shots as Detroit won 98-92. Indiana trailed 106-104 with 1:39 remaining on Jan. 29 but came up empty on its final three possessions and the Pistons won 110-104. That was one of six games in the last three weeks in which the Pacers either led or were within two points in the fourth quarter, only to lose.

Indiana (21-31) has won two of three despite the absences of veteran leaders Jermaine O'Neal and Jamaal Tinsley, both out with left knee injuries. The Pacers may face the Pistons without Travis Diener, who has filled in admirably for Tinsley, averaging 10.2 points and 5.3 assists (with a 48:10 assist:turnover ratio) in the last nine games. Diener aggravated a right ankle sprain in the closing seconds against Boston when he stepped on official Bennett Salvatore's foot and he's listed as doubtful for tonight.

KEY TO THE GAME
Not giving Rasheed Wallace motivation to take over the game, as he did in the last meeting, scoring 11 points in a 14-0 run late in the second period that wiped out a 10-point Pacers lead, would be a good start. But the Pacers' ability to finish will depend on their success with Detroit's second unit in general and Jarvis Hayes in particular. With Hayes racking up 33 points in 45 minutes against the Pacers, shooting 13-of-16 overall and 6-of-8 from the 3-point line, the Pistons have averaged 34.3 bench points – roughly eight more than their season average. When that kind of bench support is given to the best starting lineup in the league, the Pistons become nearly invincible.
TRENDS
Mike Dunleavy has shot 18-of-27 (.667) overall and 7-of-7 from the 3-point line in three games against Detroit. … Danny Granger has averaged just 13.0 points against the Pistons, making 1-of-8 from the 3-point line. … The Pacers' bench has averaged 35.6 points in the last five games, topping 40 three times. … Indiana has shot 26-of-88 (.295) from the 3-point line in the last three. … Granger had his third double-double of the season against Boston (18 points, 10 rebounds).
SERIES
The Pistons are going for the season sweep, owning a 3-0 record against the Pacers this season. Two were relatively close games – Detroit's 110-104 victory on Jan. 29 and a 98-92 victory on Dec. 29, both in Conseco Fieldhouse. The Pistons won 114-101 on Dec. 28 in Detroit. The Pacers have lost five in a row to the Pistons and trail the series 79-70 overall and 48-26 in Detroit.
INJURIES
Pacers - G Travis Diener (sprained R ankle) is doubtful; G Jamaal Tinsley (sore L knee) and F-C Jermaine O'Neal (bone bruise, L knee) are out.
Pistons - None reported.