Danny Granger’s 24 Points Gets Pacers Easily Past the Cavaliers, 100-89

This game was was just too easy for the Indiana Pacers. Coming off a huge 93-77 victory over the Miami Heat, the Indiana Pacers were aiming to go over .500 with a win over the struggling Cleveland Cavaliers at home in Conseco Fieldhouse. I predicted a big game for Danny Granger, and my prediction turned out right, as the star Pacer scored 24 points, five rebounds, and three assists.

The Pacers showed no signs of slowing down from the win over South Beach. They had already beaten LeBron James’ new team. Now they have beaten his old time, twice. This game was just too easy for the Pacers, passing by with a 100-89 victory despite the Cavs burst for a 33-17 outscore in the fourth quarter. Indiana now improves to 7-6 while the Cavs drop to 5-8.

“This had to be a big win for us because we came off of a good road game,” Granger said. “And it means nothing if you come back and lose.”

Granger shot really bad versus the Heat, but still ended up with a good performance with 20 points, eleven rebounds, and six assists, leading the team in nearly ever statistical category. Brandon Rush played well in that game, too, having a season-high of 20 points. Rush showed up again last night, showing that he is well-deserving of being starter at shooting guard, having 16 points.

“We definitely carried it over from last night,” said Rush. “It was definitely big. It was definitely important for us not to let that win get over our heads. We didn’t want to lay an egg.”

Ramon Sessions led the team with 15 points, six rebounds, and five assists. That is not a good statistical total for your best player. The Cavs now drop to their third consecutive loss.

“We have to understand that we have to come out with a sense of urgency and do that for 48 minutes,” Cavaliers coach Byron Scott said. “This isn’t even close to rock bottom. It’s a good test for us. This team and this franchise have not had to play through adversity in the last seven years.

“The Pacers are a pretty good team and we played that bad.”

Darren Collison, now coming off fully-healthy from injury, played well with 18 points, including 13 in the first half. He was solid in the game. The Pacers are now 3-1 in their last four games.

“To go in and have a big win in Miami and not have any letdown is a great credit to the leadership in the locker room,” Pacers coach Jim O’Brien said.

Rush showed off some several highlights, exploding for seven points in the first quarter, including a huge buzzer-beater at the end of the first, which brought the fans up in the stands. It was a fun night for Indiana. The Pacers were dominating so much in this game, they led 62-37 at the end of the first half! The defense was outstanding, as the Pacers have now held their last four opponents to under 100 points, something you would not have expected last year.

“We’re very together defensively,” O’Brien said. “That’s a nice position when your players are talking about the defensive side of the game. They don’t want to not be there for each other. That’s a very positive sign early in the season.”

Daniel Gibson, who scored 15 points, would most likely want to forget about this game.

“This is definitely a loss where we can’t let nights like this happen again,” Gibson said. “We definitely need to understand that. We have to use nights like tonight so that we never had this feeling again.”

Antwan Jamison had twelve points and ten rebounds in the game. Josh McRoberts led the Pacers with seven rebounds, along with nine points. Roy Hibbert had another resting night, with six points and six rebounds thanks to another solid performance by the Pacers bench. Mike Dunleavy had ten points and six rebounds and Collison led the team in assists with seven. Tyler Hansbrough had eight points and five rebounds.

The Pacers will now have a nice rest for today and tomorrow on Thanksgiving before the face off with the Oklahoma City Thunder at home on Friday night.

Looks to be a good game.

It’s a good game for Pacers fans!

Keep providing the wins Indy! Looking strong!