Indiana Pacers G T.J. Ford (Nell Redmond/AP Photo)
A week ago, the Indiana Pacers had the look of an up-and-coming team on a roll.
Now, they just want to win again.
Their lineup got healthier and bigger, but that didn't keep the Pacers (5-6) from helping end an extended losing streak for a second time in three games. On Sunday, the Pacers fell behind the Charlotte Bobcats (4-9) early and never recovered, losing 104-88 to the NBA's lowest-scoring team.
The Bobcats, who entered the game averaging 82.4 points a game, had lost seven consecutive games.
“They controlled the whole game,” Pacers coach Jim O'Brien told NBA.com. “They controlled everything. They played with more force that we did all four quarters.
“We just didn't seem to have an answer.”
Former Pacers F Stephen Jackson, averaging 17.8 points a game since joining Charlotte recently, scored just 10 points, but had seven rebounds, two steals and four assists. Center Nazr Mohammed scored 18 points in 17 for Charlotte, which hadn't won in 17 days. Last Wednesday, the Knicks beat the Pacers to snap a six-game losing streak, the first game of what is now a three-game Indiana losing streak.
Indiana, which had won five consecutive games after a three-game season-opening losing streak, lost to Cleveland Friday.
The Pacers haven't won since beating Boston on Saturday, November 15.
“They shut us down,” F Danny Granger, who scored a team-high 18 points, told NBA.com. “We couldn't even guard them.”
The Pacers shot 41 percent from the floor with 18 turnovers, shooting 5 of 22 from 3-point range and missing their first eight. Indiana never led after the first quarter, and after Charlotte went on a 22-5 first-half run, the Bobcats led 81-60 entering the fourth quarter.
Former North Carolina standout F Tyler Hansbrough, playing his first NBA game in North Carolina, had eight points and six rebounds. Pacers F Dahntay Jones continued to score consistently with 19 points.
C Jeff Foster, out three weeks with a sprained ankle, did not score in his first game back, and F Troy Murphy finished with seven points and eight rebounds in his second game after returning from a back injury.
Also, O'Brien said while F-G Mike Dunleavy (knee) has been cleared to return, it's not certain he will return this week. “He has not practiced enough fullcourt that we're comfortable just throwing him out there,” O'Brien told the Associated Press. “When he feels like he's in NBA shape, then he'll be back."
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