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Dahntay Jones, Indiana Pacers rally in second half to beat Los Angeles Clippers, 86-73
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Indiana Pacers F Dahntay Jones (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
INDIANAPOLIS -- The outcome didn't surprise Indiana Pacers F Dahntay Jones a bit.
No Danny Granger? A four-game losing streak?
A rough first half?
None of it mattered to Jones in the wake of the Pacers' 86-73 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers in front of 12,356 at Conseco Fieldhouse Wednesday night, a victory that ended a four-game losing streak and came without Granger, the team's lone All-Star who is day to day with a sprained left knee.
“We have capable players who can step up and make things happen,” Jones said.
Perhaps most notable among those players:
Jones himself, who scored nine of his team-high 18 points in a fourth quarter in which Indiana pulled away from the Clippers over the final eight minutes.
The Pacers (6-7) trailed throughout the first three quarters, and trailed the Clippers (6-10) by 11 early in the second half. They rallied to take a one-point lead in the third quarter, then pulled away shooting 12 of 21 (57.1 percent) and outscoring Los Angeles 31-14 in the fourth period.
The Pacers shot 17.4 percent in the first quarter, but improved thereafter, shooting 43.5 percent in the second quarter and finishing at 37.6 percent. Indiana also scored 18 points on nine second-half Clippers turnovers after scoring two points off five turnovers in the first half
Afterward, Pacers coach Jim O'Brien didn't mind talking about an ugly victory.
In fast, he said he liked it.
“Winning ugly is probably a great step for your team to know that it has taken,” O'Brien said. “We actually used the word 'Ugly' at halftime. We said, 'We're missing shots that we'll make in the second half, and there's nothing wrong with winning ugly. Just make sure we come out of here with a win.' ”
Jones, who missed all six of his first-half shots, shot 6 of 13 in the second half and 4 of 6 in the fourth quarter. He hit two critical layups on back-to-back possessions in the period, and made his only 3-point attempt of the period.
“A victory is a good victory,” Jones said. “There are no ugly victories. When you win, you win.”
The Pacers, after allowing 104 or more points in each game of a recent four-game losing streak, held Los Angeles to 29 of 90 shooting (32.2 percent).
“We stepped it up,” Pacers point guard T.J. Ford said. “It was a game where we had to grind it out. We know what we can do defensively. We just have to continue to put it together for four quarters.”
Indiana F Troy Murphy had 10 of his 18 points in the quarter. He started and played 35 minutes in his third game back after missing six games with a back injury. Brandon Rush had 13 points for Indiana, with Luther Head scoring 14 and Ford finishing with 11 points and six assists.
“We broke our losing streak by distributing the ball,” said Jones, who has scored in double figures in 13 of 13 games this season after doing so 11 times last season with Denver. “We did a lot of positive things, keeping the ball moving, distributing the ball well and knocking down our shots. We have capable players that can step up and make things happen.”
O'Brien, who talked extensively about a lack of “force” in a Tuesday loss at Toronto, said the Pacers improved drastically in that area Wednesday. Even when the team was struggling early, O'Brien said the effort and intensity was at the necessary level defensively.
The Pacers' 12 first-quarter points were their fewest of any quarter this season, and their 34 points were their lowest first-half total of the season.
Yet, despite being outrebounded, 55-52, O'Brien said the team found a way to win a game that hardly started off as the Pacers wanted.
“I'm very proud of our team,” O'Brien said. “We played a game with a lot of adversity around it, and played with a tremendous amount of force on the defensive end.”
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