.:| RFTA • Back In Black |:. Vote new team!

[Martti.]

Valor, the Bobcats are awesome, that's why. Not so much anymore though.

[kibaxx7]

keep it up T, keep doing what u do

So you want him to quit this in 2 weeks and start one with Charlotte?

Lol, please no, I don't see it happening here.

WTF is with the Bobcats having the best record in the NBA?!

the Bobcats are awesome, that's why. Not so much anymore though.

They're the best team here, also have the best away record, and now with Ford they might do even better.

Keep this up,although I dislike the trade

Agree with De8 dislike the trade

Any reasons? I saw the trade almost happened IRL (it was Rush instead of Jones), but I wasn't gonna trade Rush, so I changed it a little. Hey, any of you guys agree trading Murphy for cap relief, a big expiring contract, like Ilgauskas? (was gonna happen IRL as well)?

[Azzdogs]

Yeah it was good in terms of realism I just like those two players .

[Fresh8]

I'm shocked to see Bobcats as number 1...

[kibaxx7]

• 2010.01.03 – Danny Granger @ Knicks: New York made a small comeback on the second quarter but it was not enough to defeat the Indiana Pacers, which handed the Knicks a 98-91 decision at the Madison Square Garden. In a season really going nowhere, the Pacers easily could have laid down in what for two-and-a-half quarters was a lackluster performance. “It was a fun game to win,” Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said. “The force was with us to win tonight!” Granger scored 30 points to go with two boards, two assists, two steals and two blocks, an acceptable all-around performance, and Roy Hibbert had 18 and five rebounds. The Pacers PG duo of Earl Watson and recently acquired D.J. Augustin each scored 10 points on the win; Augustin said: “We battled. We kept fighting, playing, grinding, everybody did that. Danny had a great game as usual, Roy did as well and everybody else kind of had to get in where they fit in, and everybody did their job.”

• 2010.01.13 – Roy Hibbert vs. Suns: Hibbert is slowly filling the void left when Jermaine O'Neal left Indiana. After breaking his career-high in two consecutive games (Minnesota and OKC, see Team Performances), he missed the game versus Toronto because of family reasons. He returned to the lineup against Phoenix two days later and once again had a career-high, this time 28 points, to go with four rebounds, an assist, two steals and a season-high 3 blocks to help the Indiana Pacers edge the Suns 96-93. D.J. Augustin, Troy Murphy and Earl Watson each had 9 points for the Pacers, who won their fourth game in a row and are now 6-1 since acquiring Augustin, Gerald Henderson and Nazr Mohammed from Charlotte. Augustin added five assists in only 16 minutes of play. Murphy and Brandon Rush had 10 rebounds apiece -- season-high for Rush. “I played a lot of minutes lately. I just tried to follow up on that. I just got to keep it up and keep playing with the energy I have been playing with,” he said. “This easily was the best week of my career.”

• 2010.01.16 – Danny Granger @ Hornets: Danny Granger fell four points short of his 39-point season-high (4 days earlier against Toronto) and Indiana stretched the winning streak to 6 games. Still, the post-game topic in the Pacers locker room was defense, but, for the good. Granger had 35 points, four rebounds and two blocks as the Indiana Pacers won their 6th straight with a 122-102 victory over the New Orleans Hornets; Earl Watson and Troy Murphy had 14 points each. At halftime, Pacers coach Jim O'Brien talked about the superb defensive job the team did on the Hornets' top two offensive threats, Chris Paul and David West. That duo combined for 20 first-half points -- 15 and 5, respectively, with Indiana carrying a 22-point lead into the third period (76-54). But the Pacers clamped down in the second half as West finished the night with 13 points and Paul with a whooping 37-point, 4-rebound, 10-assist, 6-steal statline. But Paul's ballhandling mistakes were costly. “My turnovers hurt my team tonight,” said Paul, who left the New Orleans Arena with a season-high 8 turnovers. “I would never say that was a good game for me even if I had a triple-double.”

• 2010.01.19 – Tyler Hansbrough @ Heat: With Troy Murphy missing the game with a sore knee, Pacers coach Jim O'Brien gave rookie Tyler Hansbrough his first career start. And now Hansbrough is showing him he can be the Pacers starting power forward, that is if Murphy, as reports indicate, leaves the team in February. Indiana lost a heartbreaker, 135-132 at Miami, in a double overtime thriller, but Hansbrough's 19 points, 12 rebounds, 7/11 shooting, including a perfect 3/3 from 3-point land, all career-highs, received nothing but praises from the Pacers coaching staff. “I showed I can be useful,” Hansbrough joked. “We played really hard. We had to comeback from a 10-point deficit, and that expends a lot of energy and things have to go right. Things didn’t go right down at the end, but we fought,” Mike Dunleavy added; he led Indiana with 22 points. Quentin Richardson had a game-best 29 points for the Heat, which had only 11 points by Dwyane Wade.

• 2010.01.02 – vs. Timberwolves: Indiana handed the Minnesota Timberwolves a 117-105 defeat in D.J. Augustin, Gerald Henderson and Nazr Mohammed's first games as Pacers. Danny Granger led seven Pacers in double figures, with 23 points, and Troy Murphy had yet another double-double with 15 and 11 rebounds. “We ran the floor well, it was a great triumph. The guys also did a good job of finding their new teammates,” Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said of the new Pacers trio. Mohammed was perfect from the floor (5/5) and scored 13 points to go with 6 rebounds as Roy Hibbert's backup; Augustin had 10 and four assists, and Henderson added 4 points, two rebounds and a assist in garbage time, when the win was already taken. Incredibly, the Timberwolves lost even with Al Jefferson scoring an impressive 40 points to go with eight rebounds and two blocks. “I must admit defense is addressed on trainings on a regular basis,” O'Brien added. “But we still have problems; Jefferson's night for Minnesota talks about that. I still can't believe we won despite that performance from him.”

• 2010.01.08 – @ Timberwolves: Six days after Indiana's win against the Wolves, the teams fought each other again, this time at Minnesota, but the result didn't change; the Indiana Pacers were at their best and the Minnesota Timberwolves were the struggling team once again in Indiana's 116-94 win. Making things easy for Indiana was Roy Hibbert, who had 24 points and eight rebounds, starting a streak of 3 games in a row breaking his career-high in points, and led six Pacers in double figures: Danny Granger scored 19 points -- but was 0/8 from 3-point land -- , Tyler Hansbrough added 15 and 11 rebounds and Brandon Rush 13. “Roles didn't reverse,” Wolves coach Kurt Rambis said. “They swept us. They dominated both games. But I must applaud Al.” As Rambis says, Al Jefferson was unstoppable for Indiana's defense in both contests. After posting 40 and 8 boards at the Conseco Fieldhouse, this time he had 30 and 7.

• 2010.01.09 – @ Thunder: Indiana is looking more fluid and more versatile after the trade with the Bobcats, and it has shown up in their last two weeks; The Pacers are now 4-1 since the deal, with a 127-100 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder at Ford Center, a win that was never in doubt after a 7-point halftime lead grew to 23 after three quarters. After posting some quiet games in the first months of his career, Roy Hibbert seems reinvigorated, as good as he could ever be. We can say he is on the top of his game. He really can't get much better than this; he had 24 at Minnesota and now he led a Pacers 20-point trio with 25 -- in two 1/2 quarters, that's really dominance for a center --; Danny Granger adding 29 and Mike Dunleavy 20 off the bench. “We're winning in different ways, and it's a lot of fun for us,” Hibbert said. “It was difficult for the Thunder to cover everything we did. We had pick-and-roll, we had penetration. They tried to stop me, and when they did, we had great shooters on the floor. The way we played tonight, it really was difficult for them.”

INDIANAPOLIS, February 1, 2010 -- RealGM reports that the Indiana Pacers are in talks with the Washington Wizards to strike a deal. The scenario, not yet done, would send Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy Jr. and Sacramento's 2nd round pick for this upcoming draft -- the Pacers acquired it sending Travis Diener to the Kings; the Kings are now 22-24 and it would be a lottery pick -- in exchange for Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Mike Miller. I'm up for this trade and I would love if the Pacers did it, as it would free both Ilgauskas' (11.54M) and Miller's (9.75M) contracts, both expiring, this offseason, and drop Murphy & Dunleavy's deals, both until June 2011. Dunleavy, I really don't care if he leaves, but I must admit he had some really good performances this season coming from the bench and was in the race for Sixth Man of the Year, but we all know he will never win a NBA award.

Murphy is stuck in a not very good position. Indiana stands at 20-28 after January, in a team that is a lock for missing the playoffs, despite some small shades of brilliance after the trade with Charlotte (9-2 for Indy's first 11 games since the deal). He’s starting for this Pacers team and is the rebound leader (11.2 per game), but he's posting a career-low in points since his rookie season and Tyler Hansbrough is really stepping up this past month, up to a point I would love if Tyler starts and Troy comes from the bench. Indiana is heavily mentioned, all swirling around Troy and his play. This deal to Washington seems to have been discussed since the dawn of time, but saw the daylight today. Now, if Murphy feels he can redeem himself in the next months and stay with the Pacers, I think the Wizards could accept Jeff Foster instead, but they would send Randy Foye to the Pacers (a 3.58M deal, expiring as well) and not Miller, to make the salaries work. The power forward / center has yet to play a game with Indiana this season, but Washington's frontcourt is full of centers (Ilgauskas, Oberto, McGee, Blatche) and has no real PF, so Foster could start there, and the deal would make sense for both organizations. The Wizards stand at 18-28 and they could welcome some new faces to the team. I repeat, the deal isn't done yet, and might never happen, but I'd like to see what you guys think about it. The Indianapolis Star reports that the deal most likely to happen is Foster & Foye's.

[kibaxx7]

Yeah it was good in terms of realism I just like those two players .

Good then

I'm shocked to see Bobcats as number 1...

Bobcats still 1st in the league. Really consistent...

Any thoughts on the Ilgauskas + Foye/Miller deal? More likely to do Foye's, another of my favs.

[Oznogrd]

if you make hansbitchough into a star i wont folow

[Martti.]

I think the deal with Big Z and Mike would be better for you financially, as it doesn't look like you're making the Playoffs anyway. Might as well rebuild now. Get a good rookie and sign some big name FA.

[kibaxx7]

if you make hansbitchough into a star i wont folow

The simulation is making him a star, not me to the point I'm trading Murphy away.

I think the deal with Big Z and Mike would be better for you financially, as it doesn't look like you're making the Playoffs anyway. Might as well rebuild now. Get a good rookie and sign some big name FA.

That's the idea man! The Murphy, Dunleavy x Z, Miller will take place next update.

[Azzdogs]

Good to see you preparing for the next season and hopefully you can land a big FA.

[kibaxx7]

:: Click for detail ::
All news, trades, articles coming in this format.

[Valor]

I'll hate you if you get past Chicago in the standings

[|)e8*]

Plz no more trades man, I think you lose interest when there are no more deals that can be done xD

[Lamrock]

Yeah. I for one enjoy using the cards that I'm dealt before trading them for expirings. If you are going to do a glorified fantasy draft, do it with a cooler team than the Pacers. :S

[Mark.]

Yeah, could be a tad early for such a trade, but I guess Feb is only around the corner. At least now you will shed some salary come the offseason and have some room to move. Getting rid of Dunleavy and Murphy deffinately changes the face of the team a bit.

[Clutch]

interesting trade... would've preferred to keep Murphy over Z but any chance to ditch Bumleavy I guess you have to take; Miller is definitely a nice pick up in exchange, but not sure he'll appreciate coming off the bench to Granger; I suppose you can run him at the 2 but he'll get burnt trying to defend the Roys, Kobes and quicker guards of the league

[kibaxx7]

I'll hate you if you get past Chicago in the standings

Lol, the simulation will get past them if it happens, not me... but Warrick is playing huge

Plz no more trades man, I think you lose interest when there are no more deals that can be done xD

Yeah. I for one enjoy using the cards that I'm dealt before trading them for expirings. If you are going to do a glorified fantasy draft, do it with a cooler team than the Pacers. :S

Yeah, could be a tad early for such a trade, but I guess Feb is only around the corner. At least now you will shed some salary come the offseason and have some room to move. Getting rid of Dunleavy and Murphy deffinately changes the face of the team a bit.

interesting trade... would've preferred to keep Murphy over Z but any chance to ditch Bumleavy I guess you have to take; Miller is definitely a nice pick up in exchange, but not sure he'll appreciate coming off the bench to Granger; I suppose you can run him at the 2 but he'll get burnt trying to defend the Roys, Kobes and quicker guards of the league

Nah, no more trades. That was the last one. I now have around $22M in expirings (Ilgauskas, Miller, Watson, Luther Head) and won't resign any of them. I would resign Z but he has this $12M contract, so, no thanks Dunleavy was having some nice games from the bench (I think he had 20+ point games 3 or 4 times), but Murphy was posting career-low in points and all the offense was Granger and Hibbert...

[kibaxx7]

• 2010.02.02 – Danny Granger vs. Raptors: Indiana used an 8-0 run late in the fourth quarter to take control en route to a 99-90 win over the Toronto Raptors. Danny Granger did it all, tallying 38 points, four rebounds, three assists and two blocks. With Troy Murphy away, traded to Washington, we can say the Pacers have put the season on the shelf already, but Granger sparked the Pacers to their first win in their last seven games, and he doesn't seem to give up. He made 14-of-20 shots and shined on the defensive end, and from behind the arc too, making 7/9 shots. “That was fun,” he said. “I was just trying to rebound and run the court, and everything just fell into place.” Pacers coach Jim O'Brien added: “You don't see an all-around effort coming with anyone on any night. That was phenomenal. His energy level was high. He just did everything you could ask of him.” Roy Hibbert added 13 points and eight boards for Indiana, while Marco Belinelli led the Raptors with 22 points. Chris Bosh posted 20 points, 12 boards, four dimes and three blocked shots for Toronto.

• 2010.02.19 – Zydrunas Ilgauskas @ Hornets: The Hornets came back and made it close, but Peja Stojakovic missed an off-balance jumper with time running out as the Indiana Pacers survived New Orleans' 4th quarter rally, winning the contest 97-95. Stojakovic couldn't top the double-digit mark as he scored only 8 points, but Chris Paul finished with 28 and nine assists. “We knew it was going to be a tough game on the road -- Indiana is really hard to beat at the Conseco,” Paul said. The savior for the Pacers tonight was recently acquired center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who only played 16 minutes from the bench but was key in several quick runs that kept the Pacers alive with his game on the paint. He finished the night with 18 points and seven boards, and also gave Hornets' David West (20 points) quick foul trouble, as the former Cavalier was 11/12 from the charity stripe. “We didn't change our game plan, and when the Hornets made their run, we just chilled, didn't point fingers and stayed on focus,” Ilgauskas said.

• 2010.02.24 – Danny Granger @ Bulls: Danny Granger is just helping Indiana run without Troy Murphy. Granger exploded for a career-high 47 points and added seven rebounds but it was not enough to lead the Pacers to a win, as they lost 111-106 against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center. “Danny made a couple of jumpers, then got a couple of layups and after that he was making shots all over the court. He was terrific,” Bulls coach Vinny del Negro said. “We didn't have an answer for him but fortunately we won the contest thanks to our rebounding advantage and teamwork.” As Del Negro says, only Granger and Earl Watson (13 points, eight dimes) were up to the challenge as six Bulls scored in double figures, with Flip Murray leading the charge (18 points) and Luol Deng (16, 12 boards) being the dynamic duo. Also topping the 10-point mark were Brad Miller, Hakim Warrick (13 each), Derrick Rose and Kirk Hinrich (11 apiece). “We definitely needed this one, to build our confidence at home and being closer to the playoffs,” Warrick said. “We've got some tough games ahead of us, but this is time where we can go on a streak. We had a successful January, why not do it again on February, eh?...”

• 2010.02.25 – D.J. Augustin vs. Bucks: The Pacers had been struggling of late, but with Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Mike Miller playing like this, they will come up with huge efforts in the games to come. Ilgauskas had 13 points in 19 minutes and Miller stayed perfect from the floor -- 4/4 shooting, 2/2 from beyond the arc, 1/1 free throws) in 1 quarter as Indiana posted a huge 117-85 drubbing of the Milwaukee Bucks. Despite Danny Granger's usual numbers (25 points, six boards, three blocks), the POTG award went to D.J. Augustin, who had his best game as a Pacer with 15 points, three boards and four dimes, with some great behind-the-back and no-look passes, also shooting 6/10, including 3/6 3-pointers. Pacers' Tyler Hansbrough tweaked his right ankle in the pregame shootaround and was replaced in the starting lineup at the last minute by Nazr Mohammed -- 6 points, 4 rebounds -- , who said that “ ... we've been playing hard the last couple of games but we haven't been rewarded with a win. Tonight, we played hard again and got a nice triumph. We were able to get everybody some playing time and it felt really good.” Hansbrough came down on one of the Pacers coaches' feet under the basket after he was going for a lay-up. Coach Jim O'Brien was determining whether he was going to play or not and the rookie from North Carolina didn't have a good assessment. He was taken to the locker room and got a little bit more padding put on his ankle to make sure that he could absorb a little bit more shock because he wasn't able to step properly.

DALLAS, February 14, 2010 -- In one of the All-Star Games with less points scored ever, Kobe Bryant's patented fadeaway shot with 1:45 left provided the lead the squad needed to lift the Western Conference to a 109-94 victory over the Eastern Conference at Dallas, Texas. Working against Atlanta Hawks guard Joe Johnson, Kobe buried a fadeaway jumper to give the West a 99-92 edge and start a 10-2 run to win the contest. “My game doesn't change from a regular game to an All-Star Game,” Kobe said. With flashy performances from Memphis' Rudy Gay and Portland's Brandon Roy, both players had a handful of thunderous dunks and several comedic moments as they had 15 points apiece; Gay shot 7/9 from the field while Roy had six assists. Roy even arrived late to the arena and heard some boos from the crowd when he opted for a layup rather than a dunk on a fast break in the second quarter.

The West had six players in double figures, as the East had only four. Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James had a game-best 20 points and Johnson added 15 points for the East, while Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas and Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh scored 12 and 10 points, respectively, for the East. James was highly entertaining as he took a couple of spins at point guard in the first half, having his drive swatted out of bounds by Minnesota Timberwolves center Al Jefferson, but he later responded by pounding a shot by Jefferson into the third row of seats. One of his dunks rocked the backboard so severely it prompted commentator Clark Kellogg to ask if there was an extra one in the building. Seconds later, he scored on a post move, grabbed a fan's video camera and started dancing. Incredibly, the game had a player leaving the building scoreless. Even more incredibly, it was Miami Heat' Dwyane Wade, who was 0/3 from the field. Wade tried a self-pass off-the-glass jam late in the period but was fouled by Dallas Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki and couldn't make any of his free-throws. But, Wade was part of a spectacular play less than six minutes into the contest when he fed James for an alley-oop dunk that brought the crowd to its feet.

Surprising players dressing in for the game were Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Clippers centers, Spencer Hawes and Chris Kaman, who both average single digits in points and rebounds. In the other hand, players who deserved a spot in the squads were Golden State Warriors guard Monta Ellis -- averaging a career-high in points this season -- and Orlando Magic swingman Vince Carter -- who found his career revitalized after being acquired by the Magic -- ; Ellis had 12 points and eight assists for the West while Carter had 6 for the East staying perfect from the floor: 3/3 shooting, 3/3 on dunks. Charlotte Bobcats' Stephen Jackson, became a passer, handing out six assists with just four points. He had a pair of long lobs that James turned into jaw-dropping tomahawks in the fourth quarter. Atlanta Hawks' Al Horford, whose presence in this game was also questioned, scored four points and five boards, close to his season averages, totally underachieving. Indiana Pacers forward Danny Granger, making his 2nd All-Star appearance, had 4 points and 4 rebounds in 15 minutes.

[Azzdogs]

Looks like Grangers playing some good ball along with Big Z. Looking forward to see what happens over the offseason.

[|)e8*]

LOL MINNY BETTER THAN MY JAZZ HOWS DAT POSSIBLE

[dare]

I'm just gonna wait for the off season man.

[cavs4872]

It's good to see that Z and Mike are playing well (judging by their performances against the Bucks and Hornets). Great recap of the All-Star Game.

[kibaxx7]

Looks like Grangers playing some good ball along with Big Z. Looking forward to see what happens over the offseason.

Thanks man. Yeah Z is a nice addition but I just can't pay him again if I'm after a big name FA.

LOL MINNY BETTER THAN MY JAZZ HOWS DAT POSSIBLE

Jazz are sucking bad Charlotte is tearing it up.

I'm just gonna wait for the off season man.

Now posting March and April so, the offseason's coming really soon.

It's good to see that Z and Mike are playing well (judging by their performances against the Bucks and Hornets). Great recap of the All-Star Game.

Yeah but both are gone by June Thanks, it was bored so I played the ASG as the East. LeBron is just incredible!

[Martti.]

How about the Rookie game? Did the Rooks win like in real life?

[kibaxx7]

• 2010.03.09 – D.J. Augustin vs. 76ers: Indiana posted a superb win over Phoenix 3 days ago, but were back on losing ways as Philadelphia went back to the basics: shooting, rebounding and passing. Louis Williams had 20 points and Allen Iverson scored 19, six assists and six steals, as the 76ers defeated the Pacers, 105-95. Roy Hibbert contributed 16 points and Danny Granger 15 for Indiana, but once again, the best Pacer on the field was D.J. Augustin, who is in pace to be the team's starting point guard next season. He had 26 points, 4/4 from beyond the arc and 8/11 from the field in 19 minutes. “I definitely needed a game like this one,” Augustin said. “It felt really good. I'm happy with this bench role but it would be huge if I could slip into the starting lineup when November comes.” The Pacers trailed by six at the end of the first quarter on a basket by Granger, and then had a 8-0 run in the second, but Philly had a 10-2 run in the third to counter it and end up with the win. “It was one of the best passing games we've had this season,” Sixers coach Eddie Jordan said. “We had real good ball movement and got layups off good cuts. It's something we've been working on.”

• 2010.03.28 – Danny Granger @ Hawks: Despite a slow first half, Indiana pressed the accelerator the rest of the way en route to a 109-95 triumph over the Atlanta Hawks, the key being a 39-24 third period and an impressive statline by Danny Granger, who scored 41 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and two blocks for the Pacers. Brandon Rush added 15 points and Roy Hibbert 14, with 5 rebounds each. The outcome was Indiana's six straight win after starting March at 2-7. “It just feels good to win like this,” Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said. “Danny was, once again, unstoppable. Brandon and Roy had great games too, slowing down Joe was another key.” As O'Brien points out, Joe Johnson was limited to 12 points on 4/15 shooting; with this problem, Josh Smith stepped up and had 19 and 10 boards, and Jamal Crawford contributed with 17 off the bench for Atlanta. There are signs the Pacers are improving on defense with this performances, so, good sign for the future. “It's simple, actually,” Rush said. ”We feel like when we come to play, we can compete with any team and give them competition. When we don't, we are going to get beat.”

• 2010.03.30 – D.J. Augustin vs. Kings: Any discussion about the Most Improved Player award now must include Indiana's D.J. Augustin. After posting 26 points against Philadelphia three weeks ago, Augustin had 25 and five assists, and was the team's fuel in the first half of the Pacers' 105-97 win over the Sacramento Kings, as the Pacers won their 7th straight game. Centers Roy Hibbert and Zydrunas Ilgauskas collected 15 points apiece, while rookie Gerald Henderson added 11 and four rebounds for Indiana, who had Danny Granger playing limited minutes, only 10, after he got injured in training; he had a season-low 5 points -- two days after his 41-point explosion against Atlanta. Despite this 7 wins in a row and signs of improved defense, the Pacers have not been mentioned much as a playoff-bound team. Most of that talk has revolved around Cleveland and incredibly, the Charlotte Bobcats, who have jockeyed for the conference's best record all season. “They deserve it,” Ilgauskas said. “They've separated themselves from other Eastern squads and had terrific seasons. We respect what they've done and they deserve all of the talk they have gotten.” Rookie Tyreke Evans had a game-best 29 points, five rebounds and five dimes for the Kings, while Jason Thompson had 14 and 11 rebounds, and recently acquired Carl Landry 12 and 7 boards for Sacramento.

• 2010.04.02 – Danny Granger vs. Heat: Pacers forward Danny Granger averaged 10 minutes last week because of a groin injury, and couldn't wait to get back into full shape. Granger had no signs of the injury against the Heat and looked absolutely huge, scoring 43 points to go with 8 rebounds and leading the Pacers to a 107-93 victory at Miami. Granger struggled with injuries twice this season, and had some personal problems last season, but looked rejuvenated tonight after making 19-of-31 shots from the field. Indiana was an one-man show as Granger and Luther Head were the only two Pacers in double figures; Head had 10 points in 9 minutes, while Mike Miller and D.J. Augustin added 9 apiece. “As an athletic forward, you always want to get at least 30 points,” joked Granger. “It feels good to have this kind of nights and the win feels even better.” The turning point was the Pacers' fourth-quarter rally, a 12-2 run; Miami prevented it from being a dunkfest as they had 5 blocks in the run, so it could have been a 20-2 run, at least. Michael Beasley and Udonis Haslem had 17 each for Miami, while Dwyane Wade's “struggle-streak” against Indiana was kept alive with 16 points -- Wade couldn't score more than 17 in the four encounters between the teams this year, despite his 23.0 average.

• 2010.03.26 – vs. Jazz: Danny Granger is helping Indiana win without Tyler Hansbrough. Hansbrough suffered a second injury setback and didn't dress, but Granger took advantage of his absence to post 17 points and lead six Pacers who played at least 20 minutes and scored in double figures; Granger's squad dominated near the basket to beat the Utah Jazz, 105-90. The Pacers, who have now won 5 games in a row, scored 60 points in the paint; Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 16 and 12 boards, while D.J. Augustin added 14 points and five dimes. “Even with all thos deals, it seems like we're getting it together a little bit,” said Pacers guard Earl Watson, who had 12 points and 11 assists. Mike Miller played some minutes at power forward and finished the night with 11 points, four boards and eight assists, while Brandon Rush contributed with 13 points and five rebounds. Andrei Kirilenko led Utah with a game-high 20 points and also had 10 rebounds, while Paul Millsap, another MIP candidate, had 17 and 9.

• 2010.04.07 – vs. Knicks: With five games remaining in the schedule, Indiana is making this late-season push with an eight-player rotation. Eight was enough to be back on winning ways, two days after a 20-point loss against Houston. Preying on the Knicks' lack of centers, the Pacers worked their way inside for 55 points in the paint and ran off a 13-0 run in the third to win 108-87. “We were right there the first half, a really contested game,” Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said, “but just didn't play in the third quarter, at all. They killed us those 12 minutes.” Even with the gameplan executed well, the Pacers looked slow to the ball the first half, allowing the Knicks to shoot 50 percent from the field, but D'Antoni's squad was down by one at halftime. With New York hardly putting any size on the floor, the Pacers went to Roy Hibbert and Zydrunas Ilgauskas early and often; with little resistance, Hibbert had 10 of his 15 points on the third, and Ilgauskas finished the game with 12 and six rebounds. “That was the focus. Trying to get the ball inside knowing how small they were,” Granger said; he led Indiana with a game-best 28 points. Brandon Rush had 14 points, six boards and five dimes, while Earl Watson had 12 and 10 assists; Wilson Chandler was the scorer for the Knicks with 18 and Chris Duhon had 14.

• 2010.04.10 – vs. Nets: Danny Granger passed the 40-point mark once again as he had 41, 10 rebounds and six blocks in Indiana's 121-85 blowout of the New Jersey Nets. Had New Jersey won, they would've been on a nice roll to get a playoff seed, but this loss guarantees they won't make the postseason. Now, the Nets might as well get started on offseason decisions like what to do with interim coach Kiki Vandeweghe, the Brooklyn re-location and all the expiring contracts they have on their roster. Nets owner Rod Thorn surely ran through a few scenarios after seeing his team down by 15 points at halftime. With Granger and Brandon Rush hitting outside shots -- a combined 13/18 -- , Roy Hibbert using his size to dominate -- 12 points in 20 minutes -- and, of course, Earl Watson setting up teammates for open jumpers -- 14 dimes -- , Indiana had a 21-point lead after three quarters, and then capped the night in style, with a 30-15 fourth period: the Nets were completely overwhelmed. Rush had 18 points and Watson 13, as D.J. Augustin added 10 and six assists. New Jersey had no answer, with its spirit broken by a possession that saw Devin Harris (26 points) have a shot blocked by Granger, then Brook Lopez (14 and 14 boards) get a shot blocked by Augustin, incredibly; all this followed by Watson throwing a long outlet pass to the hardly mobile Hibbert for a breakaway dunk.