INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers continued their recovery
from a long losing streak with a second straight victory, Danny Granger
inspiring the win with 29 points in a 101-93 triumph over the Portland Trail
Blazers on Saturday.
The back-to-back wins, following a seven-game losing streak,
have helped the Pacers climb to within half a game of the eighth and final
playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
"Obviously, I thought it was a very good win for our
ballclub," Pacers coach Jim O’Brien said.
"Winning is great. We love winning. I liked seeing people
work so hard with a smile on their face."
Those smiles could disappear quickly, however, when the
Pacers face the top two teams in the East (the Boston Celtics and Detroit
Pistons) on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"I like to think we’re making strides, but games against
Boston and Detroit will show if we’ve made them."
Travis Diener added 15 points and nine assists and Jeff
Foster 10 points and 14 rebounds for the Pacers, who played the second half
without key scorer Mike Dunleavy after he suffered a bruised knee while
tallying 11 points in the first half.
The Blazers played their second straight game without
All-Star Brandon Roy, who is away because of a death in the family.
"We had a lot of open looks out there tonight, we just
didn’t knock down any shots," said Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge, who had 21
points and 11 rebounds in the losing cause.
David West had 33 points and 10 rebounds, Peja Stojakovic
hit six three-pointers en route to 26 points and Chris Paul scored dished out
16 assists as the New Orleans Hornets scored a 112-99 home win over the Memphis
Grizzlies.
Rudy Gay had 26 for Memphis, who lost their sixth straight
games.
The Houston Rockets got 28 points and nine rebounds from Yao
Ming and won their sixth consecutive game and the 10th in the last 11 by
beating the visiting Atlanta Hawks 108-89.
The New York Knicks snapped an eight-game losing streak by
rallying from a 17-point deficit to produce a 99-98 road win over the Milwaukee
Bucks as Jamal Crawford tallied 30 points.
The Utah Jazz had their 10-game winning streak snapped on
Friday but came back with a 97-87 home win over the injury-depleted Chicago
Bulls.
Carlos Boozer had 22 points and 12 rebounds for the winners.
