The AP reports: Indiana point guard T.J. Ford expected to carry a lighter load than usual against the Memphis Grizzlies. He ended up doing some heavy lifting. Ford, whose availability was a game-time decision because of the flu, scored eight of his 20 points in the fourth quarter as the Pacers beat the Grizzlies 104-99 on Wednesday night… Brandon Rush and Marquis Daniels each scored 14 points and Troy Murphy had 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Pacers. Memphis’ Rudy Gay missed a 3-pointer in the closing seconds that would have tied the score. Marc Gasol had 22 points and 13 rebounds, and rookie O.J. Mayo added 21 points for Memphis, which lost its sixth straight.
Category: Indiana Pacers Blog
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Robinson’s 41 points help Knicks beat Pacers
The AP reports: Nate Robinson scored a season-high 41 points, including the tiebreaking layup with 26 seconds left, and the New York Knicks beat the short-handed Indiana Pacers 123-119 Monday night… Al Harrington added 27 points and David Lee had 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Knicks. helping the Knicks pull out a game against a team that was missing most of its best players… Jarrett Jack scored a season-high 33 points and Marquis Daniels matched a season best with 28 for the Pacers, who had won two in a row overall and four in a row at Madison Square Garden… Troy Murphy, who had 19 points and 21 rebounds, traveled on the next possession, and Robinson knocked down a pair of free throws for the final margin.
Murphy scores 27, Pacers beat Bulls 98-91
The AP reports: Who needs Danny Granger and Mike Dunleavy? Troy Murphy had a season-high 27 points and the Indiana Pacers, still without their two injured scoring leaders, survived a second-half stretch of 11 minutes without a field goal to beat the Chicago Bulls 98-91 on Sunday. The Pacers now are 5-1 without Granger, a first-time All-Star this season, and 4-1 without both Granger and Dunleavy… T.J. Ford finished with 19 points for Indiana—nine in the final 4 minutes— while Marquis Daniels and Jarrett Jack added 16 each… Ben Gordon had 28 points to lead Chicago, which used three of the five players that came to the Bulls in a series of trades last week.
Danny Granger out 2-3 weeks
The Indiana Pacers announced Thursday that forward Danny Granger will be out 10 days to three weeks with a partial tendon tear in the sole of his right foot. The injury occurred in the first half of Wednesday night’s game at Charlotte. An MRI conducted Thursday in Minneapolis revealed the tear.
As the heart of the Pacers, Granger this season in 36.2 minutes per game is averaging 25.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.54 blocks per game. Though he’s only shooting 43.4% from the field, Granger is nailing an impressive 39.8% of his three-point attempts.
With 22 wins and 34 losses, the Pacers are currently last in the Central division and are the 13th seed in the 15-team Eastern conference.
Pacers wonder if Mike Dunleavy is out for season
The Indianapolis Star (Mike Wells) reports: The Indiana Pacers have gone from being optimistic that swingman Mike Dunleavy will soon return to the lineup from his right knee problems to wondering if he’ll play again this season. “I don’t know,” coach Jim O’Brien said when asked about Dunleavy’s status. “I know when they say he’s out indefinitely, there is a chance he can come back. When that is, this year? I’m not sure. I don’t feel like we have all the (medical) information available to make that determination yet.” … O’Brien continues to team Jarrett Jack in the backcourt with T.J. Ford in Dunleavy’s place.
Gerald Wallace shines, Bobcats beat Pacers 103-94
The AP reports: Gerald Wallace scored 25 points to lead six players in double figures and Charlotte pulled away in the second half to win its first game since the All-Star break. Wallace had his best outing in just his second game back after sitting out because of a broken rib and a partially collapsed lung suffered during the Bobcats’ game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Jan. 27… Wallace, who also had 10 rebounds and seven assists Wednesday, was 5-of-17 from the field, but made 15 of 17 free throws… Ekema Okafor had 12 points and 12 rebounds, Raymond Felton added 16 points, Vladimir Radmanovic had 15, Boris Diaw 14 and Raja Bell 11 for Charlotte. Troy Murphy had 18 points and 16 rebounds for the Pacers, who played most of the game without All-Star forward Danny Granger.
Granger’s double-double leads Pacers past 76ers
The AP reports: Danny Granger had 20 points—five under his season average—but five other Pacers finished in double figures to pick up the slack in Indiana’s 100-91 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night… Troy Murphy scored 17 points, eight in the fourth quarter, Roy Hibbert and T.J. Ford each had 14, Jarrett Jack chipped in with 12 and Marquis Daniels had 11 for the Pacers, who led by as many as 20 points in the first half… Andre Iguodala had 20 points and nine assists, Louis Williams scored 17 and Thaddeus Young added 16 points and nine rebounds for Philadelphia, which had its four-game winning streak snapped.
Pacers notes
Positive-leaning team notes on the Indiana Pacers:
A leading candidate for the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award, Danny Granger is on course to become the first player in NBA history to improve his scoring average by at least five points a game in three consecutive seasons. Granger is fifth in the NBA this season with an average of 25.5 ppg, which is nearly six points per game more than his average (19.7) of a season ago.
T.J. Ford headed into the All-Star break with his best assists game of the season, having dealt 13 against the Bucks in Milwaukee, Feb. 11. Ford has handed 10 or more assists three times this season and has averaged 7.2 assists per game in his last six games.At Milwaukee, Feb. 11, Troy Murphy’s 23 points included five 3-pt field goals, giving him a career-high 104 3-pointers this season, and giving the Pacers at least two players with 100+ 3-pt FGS for the second straight season. Indiana had more than one player with at least 100 3-pt field goals in the same season just two times in their first 30 NBA seasons.
Over his last 25 games, Murphy has shot 64-132 from long distance (.485) and he is now 11th in the NBA with a career-best 43.5 percent from beyond the 3-pt arc.
Jermaine O’Neal to wear No.7
The South Florida Sun-Sentinal (Ira Winderman) reports: Jermaine O’Neal will wear No. 7, Shawn Marion’s former number, with Jamario Moon to wear No. 8, which means the Heat will not, after all, be retiring Antoine Walker’s number. (Moon wore No. 33 in Toronto, which soon will be retired in honor of Alonzo Mourning. The late Alec Kessler is the only other Heat player to have worn No. 33.)
NBA to borrow $175 million
The Sports Business Journal (Daniel Kaplan and John Lombardo) reports: The NBA is set to borrow $175 million Feb. 26, marking one of the first league financings since the implosion of the credit markets last fall. The money, which will be available to 15 teams, supplements an existing $1.7 billion leaguewide credit facility that uses the NBA’s media contracts as collateral to secure loans for the clubs. The NBA surveyed its teams, and 15 responded they would like to tap into the new borrowing. While the league said it is pleased to borrow in an extremely illiquid credit market, the deal came at a cost, with interest rates up to 8.27 percent, hammering home the notion that the era of cheap money in sports is over. The 15 teams can use the money for any purpose, but covering operating losses may be high on the list.
InsideHoops.com editor says: Loan me three fiddy. I want some ribs.