Some positive notes on the Indiana Pacers:
Danny Granger enters this week’s games having made a career-high 51 straight free throws. The Pacers’ all-time record for consecutive free throws is 61 in a row by Reggie Miller during the 2004-05 season.
On his way to his seventh double-double of the season with 10 points and 14 rebounds vs. Portland, Feb. 9, Jeff Foster tied his season-high with eight offensive boards, which was one more than the Blazers had as a team. Foster is 10th in the NBA with a total of 157 offensive rebounds this season. With those 14 boards, Foster became just the ninth player in Pacers’ history with 4,000 career rebounds.
Ranked among the league leaders in turnovers committed with an average of 16.0 per game, the Pacers have had a total of just 13 turnovers in their last two games. At New York, Feb. 6, the Pacers had a season-low six turnovers, including just one in the second half.
The leading scorer on the team with an average of 18.0 ppg, Danny Granger has averaged 21.4 ppg in his last 18 games. Having hit 95 3-pt field goals this season, Granger is on course to join Reggie Miller and Stephen Jackson as the only players in franchise history to make at least 100 from behind the arc in consecutive seasons. Granger led the Pacers with 110 3-pt field goals in 2006-07.
With more than 30 games left on the schedule, the Pacers’ total of 453 3-pt field goals this season is the fifth highest total in franchise history. At their current rate of 8.88 3-pt field goals per game, the Pacers will hit over 700 3-pt field goals for the first time in their history. The team record for a season is 583 3-pt field goals in 1999-2000.
Ranked among the league’s best shot-blockers off the bench with an average of 1.09 bpg, David Harrison is sixth in the league (among those with at least 30 appearances) with an average of 4.2 blocks per 48 minutes played.
In his last five games, Travis Diener has handed out 32 assists and committed just three turnovers for an assists-to-turnover ratio of 10.67:1. For the season, Diener has recorded 96 assists and just 30 turnovers for a ratio of 3.20:1.
Kareem Rush scored 10 points and hauled in a career-high 11 rebounds vs. Portland, Feb. 9, for the first double-double of his NBA career.
