Monday, February 3, 2014

Granger returns to former self in Pacers win

The Pacers defeated the visiting Orlando Magic Monday night 98-79. The Pacers are now 37-10, including 23-2 at home, while the Magic fell to 13-37.
The Big Plays
Lance Stephenson hit one of his circus shots when it was most needed with 5:39 left in the third quarter. The player known as Born Ready hit about a 12-foot scoop shot halfway down the right side of the lane. He was also fouled on the play and hit the free throw to give the Pacers a five-point lead. Before that, the Pacers had missed their first nine shots of the second half, scoring a lone point on a Roy Hibbert free throw. After Stephenson's 3-point play, Paul George followed with a 3-pointer and the Magic were never closer than five points the rest of the way.
The Ups
Lance Stephenson had one of his typical nights for the Pacers, finishing
with 15 points, 12 rebounds and five assists and providing his usual spark.
1) The Pacers got some much needed production from the bench, something that had been missing as of late. C.J. Watson, Danny Granger, Luis Scola and Ian Mahinmi combined for 23 points in the first half and they finished with 45 for the game. The bench had scored just 23 points combined in the previous two games. The bench built the lead to 16 points in the second quarter before the Pacers eventually settled for a nine point lead at the half. The bench then came in and continued to play well at the start of the fourth quarter, extending the 12-point lead to 20 points by midway through the quarter. Granger looked especially comfortable in the offense, maybe the best he's looked since returning from his knee surgery. He finished with 16 points and also had a couple of nice finds and finished with three assists too. If the Pacers can get some consistent play like that from Granger, it will be a significant step in their goal to defeat the Heat and reach the NBA Finals.
2) Pacers fans know that Stephenson has a motor that won't stop, and for most part that's been a good thing this season. And it was good thing in this game. Stephenson didn't play a perfect game, but he finished with 15 points, 12 rebounds and five assists and gave the Pacers that much needed boost in the third quarter when the game was in danger of being a close one.
3) I liked that Pacers coach Frank Vogel compared his team to the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks on Monday. The Pacers had strayed a bit from their defensive identity and it was a reminder to the team to not forget the style of play that is needed to win a championship. And also, too, it was a good reminder by Vogel that he still believes in his team. And that's important because the Pacers in general just haven't displayed the kind of confidence they had early in the season. And while Orlando has had its struggles this season, it's always good when you hold an opponent under 80 points, something the Pacers have now done nine times this season.
The Downs
1) After staring out so well and shooting over 50 percent for much of the first half, the Pacers offense decided to take a hiatus in the final three minutes of the second quarter and for most of the third quarter. They went from moving the ball and cutting to get open to standing around and watching Stephenson, George Hill and Paul George launch and mostly miss 3-pointers. It's probably lucky they were playing Orlando or the nine-point halftime lead would have likely been completely gone. The Pacers and Magic combined to score 29 points in the third quarter, and that was with a late surge by the Pacers. Not the most fun 12 minutes of basketball I've ever watched.
Afterthoughts
It was good that the Pacers finally beat a team they way they should have. The Pacers still had some moments where you wondered what they were doing out there, but it was important for them to have an easy game before they head to Atlanta. And maybe this will give them at least a little confidence boost too.
Next Up
The Pacers will try to do something they have struggled with a bit this year and that's win the second night of a back-to-back on the road when they play the Hawks in a 7:30 p.m. game Tuesday. The Pacers were without Stephenson when they went to Atlanta on Jan. 8 and lost 97-87. The Hawks were hit hard with injury when they lost center Al Horford for the season, but others have picked up their game. That includes forward Paul Millsap, who was deservedly named to the All-Star team, who is averaging 17.7 points and 8.2 rebounds. The Hawks also have point guard Jeff Teague at 16.2 points and 7.3 assists. That could be a problem area for the Pacers who have been letting point guards run crazy on them lately (the Suns' Goran Dragic would be exhibit A). Atlanta also has sharpshooter Kyle Korver at 12.2 points, DeMarre Carroll at 10.2 points and super sub Lou Williams at 9.6 points. This is the kind of game where the Pacers should be able to take advantage of their size with Hibbert and West inside. In their last meeting Hibbert and West combined to score 10 points on 5 of 19 shooting from the field. The Pacers can't have that happen again if they want to win on the road against the Hawks, who at 25-21 were sitting in the third spot in the East heading into Monday night's games. The Hawks also had Monday night off, so they'll be rested and ready for the Pacers.

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