Indiana Pacers Blog – Page 45 – NBA Blog

Celtics defense shuts Pacers down

The Indiana Pacers beat Oklahoma City on Friday night, proving that they indeed are one of the league’s up-and-coming teams.

A day later, the Boston Celtics showed the Pacers what the next level looks like. Paul Pierce scored 24 points to help the Celtics beat Indiana 86-72 on Saturday night.

The veteran-laden Celtics did what winning playoff teams do. They controlled the tempo, played stifling defense and made timely shots all night. Indiana matched its lowest point total of the season…

Ray Allen added 19 points, Kevin Garnett scored 15 and Rajon Rondo had 12 assists for the Celtics.

Allen came off the bench for just the second time this season. He made 5 of 11 3-pointers, including 3 of 5 in the second half. He had missed six games with an ankle injury and has been back for just three games…

Danny Granger scored 20 points, David West had 16 and Hibbert added nine points and 17 rebounds for Indiana. The Pacers had won four in a row and had scored more than 100 points in five consecutive games. Indiana shot 35 percent from the field, made just 5 of 22 3-pointers and committed 19 turnovers.

— Reported by Cliff Brunt of the Associated Press

Melo scores 39 but Knicks lose to Pacers

The matchup was reminiscent of the classic Pacers-Knicks games from the 1990s. The crowd was electric, the action was chippy, Reggie Miller jerseys were plentiful, and Indiana rallied from a seemingly hopeless deficit to win.

Danny Granger played the role of Miller, scoring 14 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter as the Pacers rallied from 17 points down late in the third quarter to take a 112-104 victory on Tuesday night.

Granger made all three of his 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, a fitting performance one day after Miller was announced as a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame’s 2012 class…

Paul George scored 12 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and reserves Leandro Barbosa and Dahntay Jones added 12 points each for the Pacers.

Carmelo Anthony scored a season-high 39 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Knicks. Landry Fields scored 15 points and Tyson Chandler added 12 points and 14 rebounds for New York, which fell to 9-3 under interim coach Mike Woodson.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Mike Dunleavy broke Tyler Hansbrough’s nose

Pacers forward Tyler Hansbrough is a masked man again thanks to former teammate Mike Dunleavy’s elbows.

Hansbrough suffered a broken nose and facial bone from the hard foul Dunleavy delivered with his elbows in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game in Milwaukee.

Hansbrough and Dunleavy, who were teammates for two seasons, were later given technicals when they were talking about the play during a free throw attempt.

When asked if he’s heard from Dunleavy, Hansbrough, said, “No, I don’t need an apology.”

— Reported by Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star

Jeff Foster retires from the NBA

After 13 seasons in the NBA, all with the Indiana Pacers, forward/center Jeff Foster announced his retirement Wednesday due to chronic back problems.

“It’s with deep regret that I have to conclude my basketball career,” said Foster. “I’ve given my all to the Pacers and the community the last 13 years. I had hoped to be able to finish the season, but unfortunately my back problems prevented that from occurring. I want to thank the Simon family and the Pacers’ organization for 13 memorable years.”

Foster played in just 11 games this season, averaging 2.3 points per game. One of the more popular players in team history for his on-court hustle, he retires in the Pacers’ top 10 career list in 11 different categories in the team’s NBA history, eight different categories in franchise history.

The 35-year-old Foster had career averages of 4.9 points per game and 6.9 rebounds per game.

“Jeff has meant a lot to the team and the community for 13 seasons,” said Pacers President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird. “He played hard every night, he always gave his all. He is a great role model for our younger players and we can’t thank him enough for his contributions on and off the court.”

Bench scoring helps Pacers beat Clippers

In a 2-minute span in the second quarter, Leandro Barbosa showed Indiana Pacers fans why the team traded for him last week. Barbosa scored 12 points in 18 minutes in his Pacers debut, and Indiana beat the Los Angeles Clippers 102-89 on Tuesday night.

Barbosa, acquired in a trade with Toronto, relishes his role as a reserve on what he considers a promising team…

Reserves Barbosa, Tyler Hansbrough and George Hill led a bench that outscored the Clippers’ reserves 50-23. Hansbrough scored 17 points and Hill had 15…

Hill made 6 of 7 shots and had six assists…

Hansbrough made 7 of 10 field goals, helping the reserves make 21 of 35 shots. The bench supported Danny Granger, who led the way with 25 points…

Blake Griffin had 23 points and 10 rebounds, and Paul added 16 points and eight assists for Los Angeles. The Clippers made just 9 of 20 free throws while the Pacers made 24 of 26. Griffin made 2 of 7.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Raptors trade Leandro Barbosa to Pacers

The Toronto Raptors announced Thursday they have traded guard Leandro Barbosa to the Indiana Pacers for a 2012 second-round draft pick and cash considerations.

“It’s great to have Leandro join our team,” said President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird. “He gives us added depth and scoring off the bench and will help us as we make our run to the playoffs.”

“This is another move being made with the future in mind,” said Raptors President and General Manager Bryan Colangelo. “It’s difficult to let a player like Leandro go, but this trade further underscores our plan of maximizing salary cap flexibility, acquiring assets and developing our young players.

“Leandro has unique and special ability as a basketball player, but he’s an even better person away from the game. I’m happy for him to get the opportunity to join a playoff team as he heads into free agency.”

Barbosa averaged 12.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 23.4 minutes in 100 outings with the Raptors. He led the bench in scoring in 60 of those 100 appearances. In 42 games this season, Barbosa averaged 12.2 points, 1.8 rebounds and 22.4 minutes.

The nine-year NBA veteran was acquired by Toronto, along with centre Dwayne Jones, on July 14, 2010 in exchange for forward Hedo Turkoglu.

The roster now stands at 14 players heading into Friday’s game at Memphis (Sportsnet ONE/Sportsnet’s 590 The FAN).

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No Pacers contract extensions for Roy Hibbert, George Hill

Indiana Pacers guard George Hill and center Roy Hibbert will have to wait until the summer to get their next contracts and find out where they’ll be playing next season.

The deadline for contract extensions passed Wednesday night with neither player agreeing to a new deal.

They will be restricted free agents, meaning the Pacers can match any offer made to them, this summer.

“We’ll just wait until this summer and see what we can do,” Pacers President Larry Bird said.

It’s not surprising that Hibbert didn’t agree to an extension. He and agent David Falk said last week that they would prefer to wait until this summer to work on a new contract.

Hill’s status, on the other hand, is somewhat surprising.

— Reported by Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star

Josh McRoberts feels insulted that Pacers didn’t want to keep him

Josh McRoberts knew the odds were not good that his hometown team, the Indiana Pacers, would re-sign him during the offseason.

At the same time, McRoberts, who spent three seasons with the Pacers, felt “insulted” that they didn’t reach out to him or his agent once free agency started.

“I definitely felt insulted,” the Los Angeles Lakers forward said before Sunday’s game against the Pacers. “I knew they were going to try and make an improvement at the position. But in the meetings they told me they were going to try and bring me back if they could. If you’re going to say that, at least make a call.

“That made it harder on me because other teams were thinking what was wrong with me and how come the Pacers didn’t want me back. I feel like I gave a lot to the team.”

McRoberts averaged a career-high 7.4 points and 5.3 rebounds in 72 games, including 51 starts, last season with the Pacers.

— Reported by Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star

Roy Hibbert not expecting new Pacers deal until summer

With the deadline for teams to negotiate contract extensions approaching in less than a week, Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert said he thinks he won’t get a new deal by next Wednesday.

“My personal gut feeling is that we’ll do something in the summer, because the max guys are the ones that get extensions right away,” Hibbert said. “I’m just going to follow my agent’s lead.”

Hibbert, who is having his best season, will become a restricted free agent, which means the Pacers can match any offer made to him this summer if the deadline passes.

Hibbert, however, said no one should dwell on his becoming a free agent.

He prefers to remain a Pacer.

— Reported by Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star

Danny Granger treating Fieldhouse workers to dinner

Indiana Pacers forward Danny Granger will host the dinner he tweeted about during the NBA lockout. Sunday’s event at Bankers Life Fieldhouse is for many of the part-time employees who did not get paid from July 1 until Nov. 26.

Granger and members of the organization will host the dinner, which also includes games, raffle prizes and special guests.

“The plan was for this to take place somewhere in Indianapolis if the lockout continued,” Granger said in a statement from the team.

“Once that was resolved, it was obvious the fieldhouse was the only logical place to do this and then, with the condensed schedule, finding a date.”

— Reported by Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star