Price steps forward as Pacers stop Jazz

Rookie Tyler Hansbrough, with 24 points, and Roy Hibbert, with 21 points and eight rebounds, led the Pacers but it was second-round pick A.J. Price who stepped up and caught the eye of Coach Jim O’Brien. Price, the rookie from Connecticut, came off the bench to score 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting with four rebounds, a pair of assists and no turnovers in 24 minutes.

“I thought A.J., in particular, played a good game,” said O’Brien. “We know we got a really solid player in the second round and a friend of mine who follows the game closely thinks we got the steal of the draft.”

Price, who struggled at times in the first two games, attributed that to the learning curve of a point guard.

“Getting a couple games under my belt with practice and getting the plays down helped me,” said Price. “Once you get that, it’s just playing basketball. I got off to a good start shooting and that helped my confidence. Everything was just more fluid tonight.”

The Pacers took the lead for good in the game midway through the second quarter on a Hibbert dunk and eventually opened up a 16-point lead. Hansbrough and Hibbert, for the second straight game, proved to be too much for the opposition with their active play around the basket.

“Roy and Tyler again had good games,” said O’Brien. “Getting to the line (31 of 35 to Utah’s 11 of 15) was a big key and Tyler (14 of 14 from the line) had a lot to do with that.”

The Pacers played without Brandon Rush (sore left knee) and Josh McRoberts (sprained left ankle). Rush is day-to-day and McRoberts will miss the remainder of the summer league with the injury sustained in Tuesday night’s win over Oklahoma City.

The Pacers next face the Boston Celtics Thursday at 7 p.m.