The AP reports: Amare Stoudemire scored 49 points, falling a point short of his career high in the Phoenix Suns’ 113-103 victory over Indiana on Wednesday night. Stoudemire was 17-for-21 from the field, made 15 free throws without a miss and had 11 rebounds, six assists and five steals. He just missed his career high of 50 points, set against Portland on Jan. 2, 2005. Boris Diaw added 14 points for the Suns (4-1). T.J. Ford and Danny Granger each scored 23 points, and Marquis Daniels added 19 for the Pacers (1-2). Indiana beat defending NBA champion Boston on Saturday.
Category: Indiana Pacers Blog
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Amare drops 49 on Pacers
The AP reports: Amare Stoudemire scored 49 points, falling a point short of his career high in the Phoenix Suns’ 113-103 victory over Indiana on Wednesday night. Stoudemire was 17-for-21 from the field, made 15 free throws without a miss and had 11 rebounds, six assists and five steals. He just missed his career high of 50 points, set against Portland on Jan. 2, 2005.
Pacers team notes
Danny Granger’s 33 points at Detroit on Wednesday, October 29, were the most by a Pacers’ player in the season’s first game since Jalen Rose hit for 43 points at New Jersey, October 30, 2001.
Since scoring nine points at Detroit in February, Granger has scored in double figures in a career-high 29 straight regular season games.
Boston’s 79 points in the Pacers’ home opener were the fewest ever allowed by Indiana in its NBA home opener.
With its sellout crowd of 18,165 in the home opener vs. Boston, November 1, the Pacers’ matched their total of sellouts in 2007-08.
The win over the Celtics was Indiana’s fifth in a game in which it did not score 100 points since Jim O’Brien became head coach in 2007. In that span, the Pacers are 5-26 when not reaching the century mark.
Marquis Daniels’ team-high 10 rebounds vs. Boston were his most ever in a Pacers’ uniform and tied his overall career-best.
Troy Murphy registered the Pacers’ first double-double of the 2008-09 season with 13 points and a game-high 15 boards at Detroit, October 29. His 14 defensive rebounds in that game matched his most ever with the Pacers.
Murphy had a game-high five assists in the win over Boston and he has led the team in assists 10 times in its last 58 regular season games.
Last season, the Pacers were ninth in the NBA with an average of just over five blocked shots a game (5.02 bpg). Thus far in 2008-09, the Pacers have averaged a league-leading 8.0 bpg.
Roy Hibbert not getting minutes yet
The Indianapolis Star (Mike Wells) reports: Pacers rookie Roy Hibbert is averaging just nine minutes in the first two games, which includes a total of 68 seconds in the second half. O’Brien said it’s not because Hibbert, the No. 17 pick last summer, has done anything wrong. It’s due to the fact that he’d rather go with more experienced players in the second half. “I see a guy growing well,” O’Brien said about Hibbert. “When you’re playing against Detroit and Boston, I’m going to go with veterans down the stretch. “I thought Roy did some good things. He needs to maintain his focus. His work ethic is great and I’m very, very pleased with how he’s developing.”
Nov 1: Pacers 95, Celtics 79
The AP reports: Danny Granger scored 20 points, new point guard T.J. Ford added 19, and a sellout crowd watched the Pacers beat the defending champion Boston Celtics 95-79 on Saturday night in their home opener… Ford, the key acquisition in the trade that sent Jermaine O’Neal to Toronto, also had four assists. Backup point guard Jarrett Jack, picked up in a trade with Portland, added 11 points and seven rebounds. Kevin Garnett led Boston with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Pierce scored 15 points, but shot 3-for-15 from the field. Ray Allen finished with 10 points on 4-for-10 shooting… The Celtics had 24 turnovers and shot 21-for-35 from the free-throw line on Saturday.
Pacers sign Danny Granger to contract extension
The Indiana Pacers announced Friday that Danny Granger has signed a contract extension with the team. The Indianapolis Star reported that the extension is for five years and between $60 and $64 million, and that it will start next season.
“I’m very happy we were able to get an extension done,” said Granger. “I’d like to thank the Simons, Larry Bird, David Morway, Jim O’Brien, the assistant coaches, my teammates and the entire Pacers’ organization. I’m very excited about the direction our team is going and I’m glad that I can have a part in the future of this franchise. I think we can have something very special here.”
The 6-9 Granger, the Pacers’ first-round draft pick (17th overall) in the 2005 NBA Draft, has averaged 13.7 points per game in his three seasons. Last year, he registered career-best averages in points (19.6), rebounds (6.1), steals (1.1) and 3-point field goal percentage (.404).”
“Danny is a very good player and a great young man on and off the court,” said Bird, the Pacers’ President of Basketball. “He is a very important part of our future. Danny always keeps himself in top condition during the season and the off-season while always working to improve his game. He’s a player we feel very confident with going forward.”
Oct 29: Pistons 100, Pacers 94
The AP reports: The Detroit Pistons played well enough to build big leads only to allow the Indiana Pacers to rally before beating them 100-94 Wednesday night in the opener for both teams… Tayshaun Prince had 19 points, Richard Hamilton scored 15, Chauncey Billups added 13 points and seven assists, and Walter Herrmann had 10 points to help Detroit’s reserves easily outscore their counterparts. Danny Granger led the new-look Pacers with 33 points and got some help from new teammates T.J. Ford, Jarrett Jack and Rasho Nesterovic… Troy Murphy had 13 points and 15 rebounds and Marquis Daniels scored 12 points for Indiana. In their debut with the Pacers, Ford scored 10 points, Jack had nine, Nesterovic eight and first-round picks Brandon Rush and Roy Hibbert added seven and two points, respectively.
Pacers team notes
In addition to leading the team with an average of 15.1 ppg, T.J. Ford also led the Pacers with 38 assists (4.75 apg) and 12 steals (1.5 spg) in preseason.
Among those that played at least half the preseason games, Roy Hibbert led the team with an average of 6.0 rpg. He was also the team’s top offensive rebounder with a total of 18 and the best shot-blocker with 15 rejections. Hibbert recorded one of the Pacers’ two double-doubles in preseason with 12 points and 12 rebounds in the team’s win vs. Memphis, October 17.
The Pacers finished the 2008 preseason with a record of 4-4, their 16th preseason at, or above, .500 in the last 19 years. All-time, the Pacers have had a sub-.500 record in preseason just seven times.
Led by Roy Hibbert’s four, the Pacers blocked 13 shots against the Memphis Grizzlies at Conseco Fieldhouse, October 17. That was the most blocked shots by any NBA team during the preseason. The Pacers had four different players block at least two shots in that game.
The Pacers will start the season with a game on the road for the fifth time in the last six seasons, as they visit the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday, 10/29. The Pacers head into that game having lost six in a row to the Pistons. But, their last win against Detroit came at The Palace of Auburn Hills, December 9, 2006.
When the Pacers host the defending NBA Champion Boston Celtics on opening night, it will mark just the third time in the Pacers’ 33 NBA seasons that they have hosted the league’s defending champion in their home opener. The only other times that the Pacers played the reigning champion on opening night were in 1976 when they also hosted the Celtics in their very first NBA home game, and in 1983 when the Philadelphia 76ers provided the opposition on opening night.
NBA opening night rosters
The NBA’s opening day rosters are official, and now posted on InsideHoops.com.
This evening was the deadline for NBA teams to trim their rosters down to 15 players or less.
The 2008-09 regular season starts Tuesday, October 28. InsideHoops is your online basketball home. We’re pumping out more content this season than ever.
Enjoy the season!
Bucks waive Griffin and sign Croshere
The Milwaukee Bucks have acquired forward Austin Croshere (pronounced CROW-zhur) off of waivers, General Manager John Hammond announced today. In a subsequent move, the team requested waivers on forward Adrian Griffin.
Croshere (6-10, 235) comes to the Bucks with 11 years of NBA experience. He spent his first nine seasons with the Indiana Pacers, the team that drafted him with the 12th overall pick in the 1997 NBA Draft. He followed up his Pacers career with one-year stints in Dallas (2006-07) and Golden State (2007-08). He averaged 3.9 points and 2.4 rebounds in 44 games with the Warriors last season. He comes to Milwaukee with 645 regular season games to his credit and career averages of 6.9 points and 4.1 rebounds. The 33-year-old has also appeared in 68 playoff games and owns postseason averages of 6.7 points and 3.6 rebounds.
Griffin (6-5, 230) appeared in two preseason games with the Bucks.