Category: Indiana Pacers Blog

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.

The Pacers tied a franchise record with 14 3-pt field goals made at Philadelphia on Monday, Jan. 21. That was the fifth time in their NBA history that the Pacers have hit that figure, but it was the first time ever on the road. Prior to Monday, the last time Indiana made 14 3-pt field goals was in a double-overtime loss to Dallas, Feb. 5, 2002.

In the last four games, Danny Granger has averaged 24.3 ppg, and scored 20 or more points three times. He scored 20 or more points just three times in the previous 18 games and averaged 15.1 ppg in that span.

Including a team season-best 12-12 vs. Golden State, Jan. 16, Granger has made 35 of his 38 free throws (.921) in the last six games.

In his last six appearances, Shawne Williams has averaged 9.8 ppg and shot 22-39 from the floor (.564). He shot 5-12 3-pt FGS (.417) and 10-13 from the foul line (.769) in those six games.

Jeff Foster has come off the bench to lead the Pacers in rebounds in each of the last three games. In those three games, he has averaged 12.0 rpg and has accumulated an average of 5.0 offensive rebounds per game. Foster tied a season-high with eight offensive rebounds vs. Sacramento, Jan. 19. Foster is 12th in the league this season with 124 offensive rebounds

Foster’s three offensive rebounds at Philadelphia moved him past Rik Smits into fifth place on the Pacers’ all-time career list with 1,534 offensive boards.

Including his season-high 25 points at Philadelphia, Kareem Rush has scored 10+ points in 14 of the last 20 games. In those 20 games, he has averaged 12.6 ppg and shot 99-215 from the (.460), including 43-97 from 3-pt range (.443). In his first 19 appearances, Rush averaged just 3.2 ppg and scored in double figures once. In the first 19 games, he shot just 23-74 FGS (.311) and 9-34 from 3-pt range (.265).

Travis Diener has averaged 9.0 ppg and 3.3 apg in the last six games. In that time frame, he has scored a career-best 19 points at Sacramento, Jan. 12, and handed out a career-best six assists twice–vs. Golden State, Jan. 16, and at Philadelphia, Jan. 21. He committed just seven turnovers in those six games for an assists-to-turnover ratio of 2.86:1.

The Pacers had assists on 35 of their 41 field goals against the 76ers at Wachovia Center on Monday and 35 assists are a season-high. The Pacers have had 30 or more assists four times this season, but just once in the last 20 games.

Having posted their 10th road win of 2007-08 at Philadelphia on Monday, Jan. 21, the Pacers are one of just five NBA teams that have more wins on the road than they do at home. The Pacers are 9-10 at home.

Tying his season-high, Jermaine O’Neal blocked six shots at Golden State on Sunday, Jan. 13. That was his 14th straight game with at least two blocked shots and he is now seventh in the NBA with an average of 2.31 blocks per game.

With his two steals at Phoenix on Tuesday, Jan. 9, Jamaal Tinsley became just the sixth player in franchise history with 650 steals in his career. With his three thefts in the next game at Sacramento, he moved ahead of Billy Knight for fifth place on the franchise’s all-time career list.

Against the Warriors, the Pacers had nine steals, their season-high fifth straight game with at least nine thefts. For the season, Indiana is ninth in the league, and fourth in the Eastern Conference, with an average of 7.84 steals per game.

In tying their season-high 14 steals at Sacramento, the Pacers had five players with at least two steals each. That was just the third time this season, and second time in three games, that the Pacers have had more than three players with at least two steals. Indiana had four players with two steals apiece at Utah, Jan. 8.

The Pacers outscored the Warriors, 19-16, at the foul line at Golden State, Jan. 13, ending a streak of 22 straight games in which the Pacers had not outscored its opponent from the free throw line.

The Pacers fielded their eighth different starting lineup of 2007-08, and their 28th since the start of 2006-07, when Kareem Rush was inserted at guard for the game at Sacramento, Jan. 12. In that starting combination Mike Dunleavy moved to forward and Jermaine O’Neal started at center.

The NBA announced on Friday, Jan. 12, that David Harrison of the Indiana Pacers had been suspended without pay for five games for violating  the  terms  of  the  NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program.  Harrison’s suspension began with the game at Sacramento, Jan. 12.

In the fourth and final update before All-Star starters are announced, which was released on Thursday, Jan. 10, Jermaine O’Neal was seventh among Eastern Conference centers with 143,026 votes. Balloting will continue through Jan. 20 and there are several promotions planned for the games at Conseco Fieldhouse between now and then. Among those promotions will be autograph sessions for fans that turn in a required number of completed ballots. The All-Star starters will be announced during an NBA double-header on TNT Thursday, Jan. 24.