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Hansbrough entered the game shooting 68.5 percent from the line. On Friday, he went 5 of 6.
“I just went out there and played basketball,” said Hansbrough, who had his minutes increased to a season-high 24 minutes after being limited early this season while rehabilitating from a shin injury. “I wasn't thinking about things and just played. It's been a while. I want to keep playing and get used to our style and continue to get comfortable.”
I asked Hansbrough afterward if it was as comfortable as he had been this season, or if that was saying too much.
“Tonight?” he said. “Yeah. Definitely.”
Hansbrough also had seven rebounds and when the Nets pulled to within 76-71 – with 4:10 remaining in the third quarter, he hit jumps shots from 19 and 20 feet to push the lead to nine.
“He was playing as well as anybody on the team tonight,” Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said.
O'Brien afterward talked positively of Hibbert and Hansbrough. He called the victory solid, and when asked by Indianapolis State Pacers beat writer Mike Wells if the team looked like it was again having fun, O'Brien made a point of discussing what the team had done well in the recent frustrating stretch.
“I think we've improved as a basketball team,” O'Brien said. “We haven't shown it on wins, but I haven't seen any sign our guys were down on themselves.
“I thought our guys remained very focused. They understood we needed a win. They went out and did the necessary things to get a win. I'm very pleased with it.”
The victory came in the Pacers' second game without All-Star forward Danny Granger, who is expected to miss 4-to-6 weeks with a foot injury, but to the young Pacers this game wasn't about who wasn't there, but who was.
“We can't dwell on Danny being out,” Hibbert said.
Dunleavy, who like Hansbrough had his minutes increased before the game, said, “I'm getting there. I'm really getting there. I'm just trying to help the younger guys progress who may not have a grasp yet for what we're trying to do. I think me being out there helped that.”
What also helped, of course, was the Nets. Those Nets, the ones that lost their first 17 games of the season. They shot 33 of 91 from the field, and even when they closed the gap in the second half, it was never risky for Indiana. As the Pacers had been outmanned at times in the last few weeks, so did they outman the Nets on Friday.
The result was a victory that won't alter a season by itself, and may not drastically alter the tone of the season, but because that tone obviously is about continuing to sift through the roster and find a foundation, it was a victory that, for a mid-December night at least, had to feel pretty good.
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