Brandon Rush helps the Indiana Pacers defeat the Detroit Pistons 102-101
In one of the most epic encounters this season, the Indiana Pacers pulled off all the right moves down the stretch, as they edged past the Detroit Pistons 102-101 at Conseco Field house on Wednesday night.
Pacers’ Brandon Rush provided the killer blow, as he dunked with just 5.4 second remaining in the game, to propel the Pacers to their second straight victory. The Pacers beat the Washington Wizards 113-96 on Tuesday night in Washington DC in their last game.
Detroit Pistons’ Tracy McGrady and Rodney Stuckey started the game aggressively, but as the opening quarter went on, the Pacers got back into the game and took a 26-19 lead into the second.
The second quarter was a more evenly contested affair. The Pacers' however, managed to narrowly outscore their opponents in the second quarter by 25-24, as they went into half time with a 51-43 advantage. The Pacers went into the third quarter with an eight-point
lead, which was reduced to just two points by the end of the stanza at 76-78.
The scores stayed close in the fourth quarter but the real excitement came in the dying minutes. With just over a minute remaining in the game, Pistons’ Austin Daye made a 17-foot jumper from the left side of the basket to give the visitors their first lead
of the game at 101-100.
Leading the game by one point, the Pistons were on the verge of celebrating their sudden change in fortune, before Danny Granger and Brandon Rush ran away with the win for Indiana in the last five seconds.
Pacers’ interim Coach Frank Vogel said after the dramatic victory, "They're not all going to be pretty, sometimes you have to grind it out and get the 'W”. He added, “These two games [after the All-Star break] there will be an element of rust, but we got
out of it 2-0”.
Frank Vogel was named the Indiana Pacers interim coach when Jim O’Brien was fired by team President Larry Bird at the end of January. The interesting fact about Vogel is that during his term the Pacers have scored well over 1200 points in 12 straight games. Those
performances have moved them into the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Tyler Hansbrough came off the bench to score 21 points, 12 rebounds and two steals for the Pacers. Danny Granger scored 18; Josh McRoberts added 10 points, while Roy Hibbert was only able to score seven points for Indiana.
Brandon Rush’s last gasp dunk took his score tally to nine points in the game. While point guard Darren Collision finished with 11 points.
Greg Monroe scored a match-high 27 points, but was unable to save the game for Detroit. Tracy McGrady managed 16 points and Rodney Stuckey added 21. Tayshaun Prince had a terrible evening, as he was unable to score a single point in nine minutes on the court.
Pacers’ forward Josh McRoberts said after the game, "This was huge. We're gaining confidence and learning how to win and close games out. We will be playing top teams and we have to make top plays to win these games”.
The Indiana Pacers’ next face the Utah Jazz on Friday, while Detroit take on the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday as well.
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