Granger, Murphy lead Pacers to 123-115 win over Nets

Saturday, March 29, 2008

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Danny Granger scored 26 points and the Indiana Pacers beat the New Jersey Nets 123-115 on Friday night to halt a two-game losing skid and boost their playoff hopes.

Troy Murphy had 21 points and 17 rebounds for Indiana after missing the previous game with strep throat. Mike Dunleavy added 19 points for the Pacers, who avenged a loss to the Nets on Wednesday.

Vince Carter scored 33 points, Devin Harris scored a career-high 27 and Josh Boone had 15 points and 16 rebounds for the Nets, who are just a game ahead of the Pacers after the loss. Both teams are chasing Atlanta for the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Indiana held New Jersey to 8-for-24 shooting in the fourth quarter. The Pacers shot 14-for-25 from 3-point range in the game to earn a split in the season series.

Indiana opened the second half on an 8-0 run, including two 3-pointers by Murphy, to take a 64-63 lead. The lead see-sawed throughout the period until Travis Diener hit a mid-range jumper in the closing seconds to give the Pacers a 92-91 lead heading into the fourth. Carter scored 17 points in the quarter, and Granger had 12.

Dunleavy made a short jumper, then a 3-pointer at the start of the fourth to give the Pacers a 97-91 lead.

New Jersey closed to within 104-102, but back-to-back buckets in close by Marquis Daniels made it 108-102 with 2:40 to play.

Granger fouled out with 1:47 to go, and Carter made two free throws after the foul to cut Indiana's lead to four. Granger's replacement, Kareem Rush, hit a 3-pointer with 1:19 to play to boost Indiana's lead to 112-104.

The Pacers led by 14 points in the second quarter, then went cold. The Nets closed the half on a 28-7 run to lead 63-56 at the break.

At Conseco Fieldhouse

NEW JERSEY (115)

Jefferson 5-13 9-10 19, Krstic 0-2 0-0 0, Boone 6-8 3-4 15, Carter 10-26 9-11 33, Harris 10-20 3-3 27, Nachbar 1-9 0-0 2, M.Williams 6-12 1-3 15, Diop 0-2 0-0 0, Hassell 2-2 0-0 4, Se.Williams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 40-94 25-31 115.

INDIANA (123)

Dunleavy 6-13 2-4 19, Granger 9-20 7-7 26, Murphy 7-10 3-4 21, Rush 3-8 3-4 11, Murray 5-11 2-4 12, Foster 1-2 3-3 5, Sh.Williams 2-6 0-0 4, Daniels 5-12 3-4 14, Diener 2-5 4-4 9, Harrison 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 41-90 27-34 123.

New Jersey 33 30 28 24 -- 115

Indiana 33 23 36 31 -- 123

3-Point Goals -- New Jersey 10-29 (Harris 4-7, Carter 4-8, M.Williams 2-7, Jefferson 0-3, Nachbar 0-4), Indiana 14-25 (Dunleavy 5-6, Murphy 4-5, Rush 2-3, Diener 1-3, Granger 1-3, Daniels 1-5).

Pacers' O'Neal sits out vs. Nets, but say he's nearing a return

Indiana Pacers forward Jermaine O'Neal expects to return to the court soon. He wasn't quite ready Friday.

O'Neal sat out his 33rd straight game with a bone bruise on his left knee after saying during shootaround that he might play.

"I'm OK," the six-time All-Star said after the shootaround. "It's just a matter of them feeling like I can complete a game."

O'Neal is of the league's premier interior defenders, and the Pacers could use him for the stretch run. They entered Friday's game against the New Jersey Nets sitting 2 1/2 games out of the eighth and final playoff slot in the Eastern Conference with 10 games left.

O'Neal averaged 15.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in 33 games before leaving in the first quarter Jan. 16 against Golden State.

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