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END RESULT
After getting off to a hot shooting start, shooting 72 percent midway through the second quarter, the Nets were bound to cool down. After missing 11 of their first 12 shots from the 3-point line, the Pacers were bound to heat up.
The law of averages was in full force thereafter as the Pacers heated up in the second half and took control of the game behind Troy Murphy's 25 points and Danny Granger's 22 to rally past the Nets 115-102 Saturday before a sellout crowd of 18, 165 in Conseco Fieldhouse.
IMPACT
In addition to sweeping the Nets, the Pacers won their fourth in a row overall, 10th in 12 games and 11th in the last 12 at home to improve to 32-48 overall, 23-17 at home. The Nets had lost their ninth straight road game and dropped to 12-68 overall, 4-36 on the road.
QUOTEWORTHY
- “They out played us in the first half and we weren’t nailing any shots from the three. Then we caught fire from the three and defended better." – Jim O'Brien
- "I said to our guys before the game and at halftime, they are tasting victory, they are hungry and they have confidence. They have solid pieces. I don’t think they are that far away from being a playoff contender.” – O'Brien on the Nets
- "We are spacing the floor and hitting key shots much better now. This wasn’t happening early in the year and resulted in some losses for us." – Murphy
- "Ball pressure and good defense created good offense for us. Chemistry is better for us now. People are helping each other and playing better together at this point of the season. Again defense predicates good offense, which we had tonight.” – Dahntay Jones
- "This is a team that has won a lot of games recently. They’re playing their best basketball of the season.” – Nets Coach Kiki Vandeweghe on the Pacers
- “They picked it up defensively and they did a good job with executing on the offensive end. Once that started happening we have to make adjustments." – Nets guard Courtney Lee
KEY MOMENTS
Thanks to their hot shooting, the Nets controlled most of the first half, scoring the final eight of the first quarter to take a 34-25 lead. After hitting 14-of-21 (.667) in the first quarter, they got even hotter in the second, making seven of their first eight while stretching the lead to 51-39 on a Keyon Dooling 3-pointer.
With Dahntay Jones providing a nice offensive spark off the bench, scoring 13 in the quarter, the Pacers also began to buckle down defensively and they chipped the lead down to 60-56 by the break. The Pacers came out hot in the third period, opening on an 8-2 run for their first lead, 64-62. That completed a 25-11 run in which the Nets shot just 4-of-18.
The Nets recovered to take a 71-70 lead on Devin Harris' 3-pointer but the Pacers shook out of their 1-of-12 start from the arc to make four in a row, including two from Murphy, to spark an 18-5 run that gave them an 88-76 lead late in the period.
The Pacers led by at least seven the rest of the way.
BY THE NUMBERS
Murphy was 10-of-18 overall, 3-of-7 from the arc and fell one rebound short of his seventh straight double-double. Granger was 9-of-20 overall and 2-of-8 from the arc, adding four assists, four rebounds, three steals and a block to his 22 points. Jones finished with 18 off the bench. Roy Hibbert had 16 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Brandon Rush scored all 12 of his points in the second half. The Pacers shot .535 and wound up 9-of-24 from the arc, with 26 assists against 12 turnovers. They were outrebounded 40-32.
The Nets had six players in double figures, led by Brook Lopez's 20. He added five rebounds. Yi Jianlian scored 18 with seven rebounds, Terrence Williams had 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, Courtney Lee scored 15, Kris Humphries had 13 points and six rebounds and Devin Harris had 12 points and five assists. The Nets wound up shooting .524 for the game and were 2-of-14 from the 3-point line.
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