NBA Recap: Danny Granger leads as the Indiana Pacers beat the Washington Wizards 113-96
Danny Granger led Indiana Pacers to defeat Washington Wizards 113-96 on Tuesday evening at Verizon Centre. Granger scored 21 points out of which 12 were made in the third quarter that took the game away from Wizards.
Both teams looked rusty in the start, after the All-Star weekend so took their time to raise the pace of game. Wizards managed to catch up Pacers from behind, as they made it even 20-20 in 3:30 minutes with Nick Young’s two free
throws. Wizards then build the lead and finished with 5 points ahead of Pacers 25-30. Andray Blatche scored 12 points for the Wizards. From Pacers Darren Collison made 7 points.
Pacers made a strong comeback in the second section, by making aggression as well as holding the opposition. Pacers tied the game 31-31 just after seventy seconds play and then took the lead with Dahntay Jones’ layup making it
33-31. Pacers were 9 points in front of Wizards 58-49, when the second section ended.
Pacers carried the same momentum in the third segment. They didn’t make a single mistake to allow Wizards came close. Pacers outclassed Wizards by taking a 21 point lead in first five minutes of the third segment. This proved
to be the turning point of the game. Granger was the main aggressor in Pacers spurt, scoring 12 points. At the end of third segment Pacers were leading with a big margin of 22 points 90-68.
The Pacers didn’t went for the crush as they fell relaxed, this allowed Wizards to score more points than Pacers in the fourth part 23-28. But previous two quarters lead kept Pacers well ahead. Wizards’ Al Thornton and Young tried
hard but couldn’t close in the gap. Pacers then went on winning the game with 17 points as 113-96 was the final score.
Granger also had 10 rebounds and 2 assists. His teammate Tyler Hansbrough made 17 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist.
"We can't give up games that we're supposed to win," said Danny Granger, who had 21 points and 10 rebounds. "We're really trying to move up to either the seven or the six seed, which we can do. It's just a matter of putting a lot
of wins together."
Pacers won eight games out of 11 under their interim coach Frank Vogel. They are scoring about 10 points more per game under Vogel as compared to ex-coach Jim O'Brien, who was fired a month ago, but their defence is allowing too
many 102.5 points under Vogel. But that was not a worry against the Wizards.
From Wizards Andray Blatche remained the loser high, he scored 21 points, had 5 rebounds, and provided 5 assists and steal 2. Young added 16 points.
"Guys didn't bring no effort," said Andray Blatche, who scored 21 points. "They outworked us on every possession. For a minute out there, it seems like guys didn't care after a while -- like we just gave in to a team that we're
definitely much better than them if we compete. But nobody brought heart with them."
John Wall added that they didn’t put up a fight in this game. The Wizards didn't hit a single three point shot until the fourth quarter, and were also outrebounded.
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