Danny Granger and Dahntay Jones (25 points) were really on their game today. Granger’s 29 points helped deliver victory for the Pacers, as they’re on a four-game winning streak with a 4-3 record, beating the now 8-3 Boston Celtics.
It was a special game in Conseco Fieldhouse. At the end of the first quarter, the Pacers were down 27-26. No sweat, they could come back. Not exactly. Boston then expanded their lead to 61-52 at halftime.
That’s when in the third quarter, the Pacers made a march, outscoring Boston, 32-18 in the third and 61-43 in the second half to beat the C’s, 113-104. I really did not expect this at all.
I either expected a loss or a win by at least five points or fewer. But nine? That’s pretty darn good. At the start of the season when Indy was at 0-3, it just looked horrible.
But now, here they are at 4-3, and they are really making a stand. Time to change your power rankings, huh? Totally. Granger also added six rebounds, four assists, one block, and three steals in the game.
Ray Allen led the Celtics with 24 points, five rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Kendrick Perkins led the C’s in rebounds, with 13. And Brandon Rush led the Pacers in boards with eight.
Another surprising way the Pacers won this game was that they were outscored in the rebounds by nearly ten. But everything else helped, outscoring them in assists (31-18), less turnovers (Boston: 14, Pacers 6), steals (8-4), blocks (7-3) and fast break points (27-6).
That’s how good they were, against one of the best teams in the league. Just got to love it. But it isn’t that much of a surprise. Just like last season, when the Pacers and Celtics first met for that year, the Pacers killed them by more than 15 points.
Point guard Earl Watson added seven assists for the Pacers, leading the team, and also had twelve points while Roy Hibbert had eleven. Oh yeah, just to note, this is the first time the Pacers went on a four-game winning streak since April 2008.
Wow.
And speaking of highs, Granger had a season-high six three-pointers. The Celtics have lost consecutive games for the first time since March 2009, of regular season games.
And back to Dahntay Jones. He is a backup, you do know that? And guess what? He has been averaging 18.4 point per game. He’s been on fire and I think they should start him for the rest of the season.
Seriously.
The Pacers will be traveling on the road to face the New Jersey Nets on the 17th. It’s going to look like a good game, but I think the Pacers will come on top to go 5-3.
Meanwhile, the Celtics will also be looking for a win, as they face the Warriors on the 18th.
Both of these teams look good. And let’s hope the next game’s matchup between both of these opponents will be better than this one.