Danny Granger scores 23 to help the Indiana Pacers edge Cleveland Cavaliers 104-98 in O.T: NBA Recap
On Wednesday night at the Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH, the Indiana Pacers pinned the Cleveland Cavaliers 104-98 in overtime as they remain in the 3rd spot for playoff contention in the Eastern Conference.
Even though it required the extra effort of playing some extra minutes, the Pacers eventually got it done on the road. This is the first time in eight years they have had a winning season on the road as they improved to 17-14 after
this win.
Danny Granger led the scoring for the Pacers with 23 points which included some key three pointers. David West contributed 19 points, George Hill notched up 17 points and 5 assists on the night. Roy Hibbert had a double-double
performance with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Hibbert scored 9 of his 11 in the second half of the game for the Pacers, who got 9 points apiece from Leandro Barbosa and Tyler Hansbrough.
Antawn Jamison was the leading scorer for the Cavs with 21 points while Tristan Thompson added 10. Lester Hudson, who has been in spectacular form of late, had another good night scoring 19 points. Samardo Samuels also came off
the bench to contribute 13 points.
Both teams were almost at even par in all aspects of the game. They grabbed above 40 rebounds with Indiana holding a minor edge 44 - 41. However the Cavs made up for it by bossing their way around inside the paint as they outscored
the Pacers 56-42. The key to winning this one for the Pacers was clutch shooting from beyond the arc as they shot the ball 8-20, connecting on 40% of their attempts from long range.
Midway during the first quarter Indiana, were ahead by 1 point with 5:34 remaining in the period. Indiana went on a 6-0 run to open up the lead to 20-13. However, the hosts rallied back to pull back to within 1 on an Erden dunk
with 32.1 seconds remaining. On the other end, Gee committed a shooting foul on Granger. He successfully converted two free throws to help the Pacers close the first 12 minutes ahead by 3 points.
In the second quarter the Cavs held the edge in scoring as they outscored the Pacers 21-18 in the period to tie all scores at 46 each at the halfway mark.
In the early stages of the second half, both sides were neck to neck. Indiana held a 1 point advantage with 5:25 remaining in the third quarter. However the Pacers scored 5 quick points, 3 coming from a three pointer by Granger
and 2 coming on a Hibbert tip shot, to extend the lead to 6. By the end of the third, the Pacers were leading by 73-66.
Within the first minutes of the final quarter, the lead was extended to 10. From that point though, the Cavaliers stormed back with an 11-0 run to get ahead at 79-78 with 8:48 minutes remaining. Cleveland went on to extend their
advantage to 7 at 86-79 and at that point it looked game over for the Pacers.
Indiana however rallied their way back with a 10-3 burst to tie the game up at 89 each. Pacers scored 4 more unanswered points to take the lead to 93-89 with 30.1 seconds remaining. However George Hill failed to score on 3 out
4 free throws in the final seconds to take this one out of the Cavaliers reach.
Cavs made the most of this opportunity as they were able to tie all scores to send this one to over time.
However in the extra period, Indiana came out as the stronger of two teams to outscore their hosts 10-4 to win this one with a margin of 6 points.
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