All W's count the same, but the Pacers' W last night felt better than most. Dunleavy returns and helps, Stephen Graham steps up for an injured Quisy, and of course, Granger. Here are a few links of interest from the win:

• UPDATE: KD's Behind the Box Score should be a daily read without any prompting, but his thoughts on Granger and the game last night are an especially nice read for Pacer fans today.
• Bruno's Inside the Game LIVE final and Postgame Report. JOB on the win and the hero:

  "If Danny Granger isn’t an All Star, then I don’t know what an All Star looks like. He was spectacular tonight and a great team win for us. I thought our defense in the second half was outstanding. It’s great to win at the buzzer."

• Mike Wells reports on Danny Granger delivering the W like an All-Star caliber player should.
• Wells has more thoughts in his Pacers Insider post including how this is the best Pacers' locker room he's been worked since coming to Indy.

  I've told a number of people this, including Pacers PR man David Benner as we sat next to each other Wednesday, this is the best locker room I've had the opportunity to cover since I've been in Indiana and second overall (2003-04 Timberwolves were great).

  There's no jealousy or any cliques on the team. There's no finger pointing. I don't walk in the locker room and feel like there's any tension between players as in years past.

• Paul Coro reports on a frustrated Suns team that let Granger get open for the game-winning shot.
• Bright Side of the Sun is dealing with another close loss for the Suns. I feel your pain. The post references an error in the inital AP report on the game which stated that Granger's 37 points were a career high. Of course, he scored 42 points earlier this year against Detroit. He also had 41-point game against Golden State. At least found the error and fixed it.
• Ben's Suns Blog is keeping the faith that the Suns' losses at the buzzer will build good will with the basketball gods and lead to friendlier bounces at some point in the future.
• Last but certainly not least...

Game winning combination!
(Photo: AP/Matt York)

Game over, baby!

That was Mike Dunleavy's declaration after describing a replay of his inbounds pass to Danny Granger with 0.9 seconds left which Granger caught, turned and splashed from 3-land to break a tie and give the Pacers a hard-fought road win over the Phoenix Suns, 113-110.

The Pacers needed all 48 minutes on Wednesday night as they appeared headed for overtime and possibly blowing another game they had controlled through three quarters and led until Leandro Barbosa hit a 3-ball to put the Suns up 110-108 with 45 seconds left. Yep, the Pacers led the game, at one point by as much as 16 midway through the third quarter, for 47 minutes and 15 seconds and then let the Suns swoop in and take the lead.

The way the season has gone to this point, once the lead evaporated completely, there appeared no way the Pacers could win. They went ice cold in the fourth quarter, started taking too many jump shots and hitting the front rim way too often. At one point, they were 1 of 9 from 3-land. You could feel the tension all the way back in Indy. The Suns struggled to score themselves but eventually had enough opportunities to grab the lead. Losing this game began to feel like a force of nature no human in blue and gold could stop.

But in the final 45 seconds, Danny Granger stepped up and provided a superhuman effort to take back the lead for the Pacers and secure a W that was rightfully theirs. With 34 seconds left and the Pacers down two, Danny pulled up and knocked down an 18-foot jumper which was well defended. He had to hang and cock the shot a bit more than usual, but stroked it clean to tie up the game. Huge.

The Suns looked to take back the lead when Amare Stoudemire settled for a jumper with 11 seconds to go. Somehow, the Suns secured the miss. With Terry Porter and everyone else in the arena screaming for a timeout, Jason Richardson pulled up to shoot and miss a tough jumper with three seconds to go. When Jeff Foster secured the rebound, the Pacers had 0.9 seconds left for Granger's game winner.

Wow. 

In the comments, Peter from Sixty Feet, Six Inches mentioned that he might die of heart failure after a few more of these crazy finishes. He brings up a good point. If I ever have to visit a cardiologist in the future, I'm definitely going to have to list the 2008-09 Indiana Pacers season as a pre-existing condition. No doubt the doc will give me a knowing nod.

More notes on the W:

• Welcome back, Mike Dunleavy! As Bruno mentioned, it was nice to have the Pacers' two best players available to make the final play of the game. Dun played about five minutes in each quarter and played well. His jumpers were a tick short all night, but he came in and scored six quick points by cutting to the rim and getting to the line. Great start for Dun as he finished with 14 points and 4 assists. After the game he mentioned that he's on a "pitch count" with minutes but when he's playing he feels great.
• Danny Granger scored 37 points including the precious final five points of the game. His game continues to improve throughout the season. He found a way to get his shot going after it appeared to abandon him earlier in the fourth quarter. Also, his effort to begin the third quarter must be mentioned. The Suns scored the first two points to cut the Pacers' lead to two. From there, the Pacers went on a 20-6 burst fueled by threes from Troy Murphy and Danny, but also some ferocious defense by Granger. He had a couple of steals and really set the tone in that third quarter.
• The Pacers played a solid first half but only led by four at the break. Fouls and turnovers kept the Pacers from creating a bigger lead. Well, that and Louis Amundson for the Suns was a menace on the glass. Amundson finished the game with nine offensive rebounds, most in the first half as he put on a Foster-ian clinic in saving possessions for the Suns. With Shaq out nursing a sore back, the Suns were far less imposing inside but Amundson certainly did his part.
• Marquis Daniels and T.J. Ford were unavailable tonight, as well. Stephen Graham stepped in and started for Quisy and played quite well. He finished with 13 points and 7 rebounds and took part in one of the great third quarter plays which illustrated how well the Pacers were playing. After a Granger steal, Jarrett Jack ran the ball up in transition. Stevie sprinted up the right lane as the Suns defense ran with them. Jack passed to Stevie who was defended. Stevie stopped and reversed the ball back to Jack who then snapped it to Jeff Foster for a layup just ahead of two defenders. Jack-to-Graham-to-Jack-to-Foster for two. Easy.
• Granger also had a highlight move, illustrating the full array of his offensive development. Danny got a step on Amare with a cross-over drive. As he approached the rim, a pump fake sent a flock of arms and legs flying by as Amare and Matt Barnes bit on the fake. Danny, in full control, finished the layup. Absolute control on the drive the whole way. The days of hard and wild drives to the hoop, hoping to draw a foul appear to be past as the game continues to blossom.

	@
12-21		19-12
January 7, 2009 - 9:00PM EST
US Airways Arena
Radio: 1070AM WFNI   TV: Fox Sports Indiana
Probable starters:
Jarrett Jack	PG	Steve Nash
Mike Dunleavy	SG	Jason Richardson
Danny Granger	SF	Grant Hill
Troy Murphy	PF	Amare Stoudemire
Roy Hibbert	C	Shaquille O'Neal

The Indiana Pacers are in Phoenix for game two of their five-game road trip. The Pacers played  the Suns tough in November at the Fieldhouse but Amare Stoudemire's 49 points ensured the Suns pulled out the W. Now the Suns have won four of their last five and added Jason Richardson to the mix.

The Pacers did a pretty good job of taking care of the ball in Denver, save for a stretch of a few turnovers during a 21-3 run by the Nuggets. Valuing the ball will again be a huge factor, as always. 

The Pacers also need to improve their defensive effort drastically, or else they will be looking at the wrong side of a 20-point game again. With Shaq and Amare, the Suns will have no problem attacking the paint which has caused the Pacers problems all year. Somehow, someway the Pacers have to put together a team effort on defense to have a shot at the W.

Here are the Pacers.com matchups.  Mike Dunleavy appears set to make his season debut tonight which is a wonderful development. Mike Wells reports on Dun and his teammates looking forward to him jumping into the mix. Good thing too, becasue T.J. Ford did not practice yesterday and Maquis Daniels had an MRI. Both are day-to-day so we won't really know who is available until the ball is tipped. UPDATED: With Marquis Daniels ailling, Dun may start but still be limited to 20 minutes.

For a Phoenix perspective, check out Bright Side of the Sun and Ben's Suns Blog.

Gameday Reading

• Bruno's latest Caught in the Web looks at all of the learning opportunities the Pacers have had throughout the close games they've played so far. What doesn't kill you can only make you stronger. Also, Mike Dunleavy is listed as day-to-day instead of out for the game in Phoenix. Yay!
• Pacers Notebook speculates finds Danny Granger more than willing to take part in the All-Star 3-point shooting contest.

  "I'd definitely do it," he said. "They'd have to watch out for me if I did it, too."
  "I'd go through all those racks of balls and have a chance to win it," Granger said. "It would be fun if I could do it."

• Talkhoops.net Eight-Second Violation for Tuesday includes my thoughts in a little post-loss-to-the-Nuggets Q & A.
• In case you missed it, check out Monday's episode (eppaasooode 3 6 5) of The Basketball Jones, the Jones boys had an exchange about the Toronto Raptors (around 5:30 mark) that included comments about Jermaine O'Neal making it eerily reminiscent of hundreds of conversations by Pacers fans regarding J.O. over the past couple of years. Offense flows better without J.O. Offense gets clogged when he's in there and J.O. wants the ball. Maybe things will change when he returns. I imagine there's an old thread or ten over at Pacers Digest batting around these same issues.
• Continuing on the podcast beat, Mark Boyle has a great conversation with long-time play-by-play voice of the Phoenix Suns, Al McCoy. McCoy relays a great story about his experience calling the Gar Heard game from 1976 Suns-Celtics Finals.

Leave your comments and observations on the game in the comments.

In advance of the Pacers game in Phoenix tomorrow night, I exchanged a series of questions with Ben's Suns Blog. Here is a link to my answers about the Pacers. Thanks to Ben for taking the time to answer my questions. Enjoy.

Indy Cornrows:  There seems to be much consternation over the transition from Mike D'Antoni's preferred style of play to that of current head coach, Terry Porter. The few times I've seen the Suns this year, whether in victory or defeat, I've come away with a favorable impression. They appear to be in better shape to play "big boy" basketball in the playoffs, especially if a game comes down to making plays in the half court game. Am I nuts? What are your thoughts on Terry Porter coaching the Suns?

Ben's Suns Blog:  I'm actually loving the job he is doing.  Plus, he is doing the right things to position us for a long playoff run and those will take time to develop.  There was a lot of excitement in Arizona when Terry Porter took over the coaching reins. Good or bad – it was apparent that both the organization and Suns fans needed a change. As much as everyone loved D'Antoni, the system just didn't work in the playoffs – that's just a fact. After Game 1 against the Spurs, we all felt a sense of hopelessness (much like the feeling I recently felt on Christmas) and began to question some of D'Antoni's philosophies. Sure, it was fun and exciting to watch the Suns…but with the teams we had from 2004 – 2008, we felt the team could've done more. Fair or unfair, D'Antoni took the majority of the blame. Having said that, the Porter experiment has made some fans excited and driven others crazy (I'm guilty of both). Like I said, I think that he and Steve Kerr have a bold, yet necessary, vision for the Suns and it will certainly take some time to develop. At the beginning of the year, we virtually stopped running which translated into losses. However, I think it was necessary that we went through that phase and experimentation period to discover what our strengths and weaknesses are. Porter has a more disciplined approach to coaching which I think was absolutely needed four our younger guys. All in all, many of us are still in a wait-and-see phase.

Indy Cornrows:  How come Amare Stoudemire isn't averaging 35 ppg? Whenever he plays the Pacers he projects STAT to the fullest. In the first meeting this year, STAT scored 49 points with a combination of feroucious finishes at the rim and 18 to 20-footers from all over. He was unstoppable. What happens against other teams?

Continue reading this post »

Jermaine O'Neal will be back in town when the Toronto Raptors take on the Pacers on Friday, January 16, 2009. And who knows? J.O. may even play!

Should be an interesting evening at Conseco Fieldhouse to say the least. Fortunately, the Pacers are offering readers a break on tickets for the reunion game. Click on the link below, enter the Group ID and save a little money.

Link: Ticket discount for Raptors vs. Pacers
Group ID: cornrows

You can also send in this Ticket Order Form by Wednesday, January 14th.

Here are a few items of interest from last night's loss in Denver:

• Bruno's Inside the Game LIVE Final and Postgame Report. Jim O'Brien sums up the main issue.

    "You have to play a tougher brand of defensive basketball than we did. We did not do anything to prevent them from shooting fifty-nine percent and putting that many points on the board. It’s a matter of digging in and getting the job done and we clearly didn’t do that.”

• Mike Wells reports on the Pacers struggle to slow down Denver at all.
• In his Pacers Insider, Wells wonders how the Pacers will survive this  trip if they play at least a little defense. Also, he considers how happy the Nuggets must be to have held off on Jamaal Tinsley now that they have Chauncey Billups making them go.
• Benjamin Hochman reports on the Nuggets' win being overshadowed by potentially losing Carmelo Anthony with a hand fracture.
• Roundball Mining Company is concerned with Carmelo's hand fracture and impressed with Danny Granger. Melo showed some guts playing through that hand injury and still producing. I admit, at first I thought he was soccer flopping but obviously that wasn't the case.
• Jim O'Brien has plenty of praise for the Nuggets.
• Both Teams Played Hard offers up the Pacers heat maps from Obsessionism that illustrate the team's wins and losses over the past five year.

I just ran across this strange little piece in Esquire with Larry Bird making general comments about life as he's sees it from his experiences as a kid in French Lick through today. Two of my favorite observations are on Eminem and dogs.

Eminem. My son was listening to that and I was like, "What is that junk?" Then I started listening and I thought, You know, that kid is pretty good. It's the storytelling.

I always know what a dog is thinking. I just look at a dog and I know. It's: I'm hungry.

Don't let the 20-point deficit fool you. The Denver Nuggets and Indiana Pacers put on a shootout Monday night worthy of the Wild West or even better the original ABA. The Pacers were running short-handed and ran short on fire power midway through the fourth quarter which allowed the Nuggets to claim the W, 135-115.

While the Pacers made it mighty interesting most of the night, with the exception of a few minutes late in the second quarter, they couldn't contain the Nuggets all night. And by contain I mean keep them away from the rim.

The Nuggets came into the game leading the league in dunks and they had to expand that lead tonight. There was an inordinate amount out run out open dunks off Pacer misses that ought to make film sessions quite uncomfortable tomorrow.

When they weren't running free on the break, the Nuggs had their way in the paint. The Pacers needed a drop cloth because simply moving their feet and stopping penetration wasn't working. Along with even more dunks there were many little runners in the lane by Kenyon Martin and Carmelo Anthony.

The second quarter, however, was tons of fun. Danny Granger played like a man possessed as he pumped in 18 points, doing everything in his power to bring the Pacers back from their initial 20-point deficit early in the game. Bring them back he did. The Pacers scored 42 second quarter points to go to the half down 74-70.

I repeat, the Nuggets were up 74-70 at the half. Somewhere, the ABA was smiling.

The wheels gradually fell off in the second half as Danny resumed playing as a mere NBA mortal and the defense was non-existent. After only turning the ball over two times in the first half, a string of turnovers fueled the Nuggets on a 21-3 run that seemed like a 40-0 run and the Pacers had nothing left to return the favor.

A few other thoughts:

• T.J. Ford was suited up but unable to play tonight. Whether it was the abdominal strain or back strain is unknown. I was assuming it was the ab strain, although J.R. Smith mentioned after the game that T.J. said it was his back. Regardless, he was missed.
• Also, Marquis Daniels tried to play through a strained groin but only played 11 minutes in the first half. He was missed in the second half, especially when the Nuggets started going on their run.
• Granger was a monster in the second quarter but just couldn't get it going again in the second half. He did finish with 36 points which almost seems routine at this point.
• Troy Murphy finished with 15 and 12 for his 17th double-double of the season. Again, the numbers are becoming routine.
• Brandon Rush has slipped back out of the rotation. Stephen Graham stepped into his role off the bench and even with Quisy unavailable in the second half, Rush did not see the floor until cleanup time late in the fourth quarter. Naturally, he hit a pair of 3-balls.