The Pacers Extend Winning Streak To Four Against Boston

The Pacers were on a three-game winning streak heading into the game against Boston. The wins were exactly against the top-tier teams in the league and they were games that they were supposed to win. The game against Boston wasn’t a game that many penciled in a victory for Indiana. The Pacers defense and fast break ability won the game 113-104.

Indiana haven’t had the players on the floor to let them run their usual fast-break offense, but with T.J. Ford and Dahntay Jones both healthy, they ran in very well. Granger led the team with 29 points, he had to show up since he guaranteed a win against Boston, which isn’t a usual characteristic he possesses. He isn’t usually cocky, but he must have saw something on tape that made him believe the Pacers could win. I would assume that he saw that the new players on the Boston made them a better team on paper, they are very vulnerable on the fast break, since this Celtics team is slower than the team of the last two years.

Dahntay Jones had a nice night for Indiana, he put in 25 points in the very small lineup Indiana put on the floor. The starters were Jones, Granger, Roy Hibbert, Earl Watson, and Brandon Rush, which made the Celtics have to defend the 3-point shot and wouldn’t match up well in speed. I liked the change, it won’t work in most games, but against a team that lacks speed in the starting line-up, I love it.

To prove that the Pacers won the game with speed, Indiana beat the Celtics in fast break points, 27-6. That is a huge number when you see that this was more than the difference of the game. I like T.J. Ford coming off the bench, Watson has had great +/- numbers defensively and Indiana could use some more energy guys coming off the bench with Travis Diener out.

The Pacers could extend their winning streak to 5 or 6, since their next two games come against a struggling New Jersey Nets team and the New York Knicks, who they have already beat this season. The next game would be against Cleveland, so they will need to bring the house in that game to prove that they could be a playoff team this season.

Tags: brandon rush, dahntay jones, danny granger, earl watson, roy hibbert, t.j. ford, travis diener