By Tom Lewis

– Newsdesk contributor

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Dec 31, 2011 – The compact 2011-12 NBA schedule begins showing its teeth on Saturday night when the Indiana Pacers (3-0) visit the Detroit Pistons (0-3) at the Palace at Auburn Hills.

Both teams are playing their fourth game in six days after playing a game last night and then traveling to Detroit. The Pistons will look for their first win against the Pacers after remaining winless on the season with a 96-85 to the Boston Celtics on Friday night.

The Pacers remained undefeated after beating the Cleveland Cavaliers in overtime on Friday night. Then a post-game flight to Detroit was slowed by fog which didn’t allow the Pacers to arrive at their hotel until 3:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. The Pacers continue to struggle shooting the ball (FG% under 40% in all three wins) but make up for it with a strong, balanced attack and commitment to rebounding.

In the season opener at Indiana, the Pacers dominated the Pistons around the rim with a 53-40 rebound advantage and double-double contributions from Roy Hibbert, David West and Tyler Hansbrough. The Pistons will need to neutralize Indiana’s front court advantage with big games from the back court with Ben Gordon, Rodney Stuckey and rookie Brandon Knight scoring to lead the way.

The game tips off at 6:00 p.m. ET to accommodate your New Year’s Eve plans and will be televised on Fox Sports Indiana.

For more on the Indiana Pacers, check out Indy Cornrows. You can also head over to SB Nation’s main NBA hub at SBNation.com/NBA.

For more on the Indiana Pacers, check out Indy Cornrows. You can also head over to SB Nation’s main NBA hub at SBNation.com/NBA.

Read More: David West (F – IND), Ben Gordon (G – DET), Brandon Knight (G – DET), Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons

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CBSSports.com wire reports
Dec. 30, 2011

INDIANAPOLIS — Another ugly game, another win for the Indiana Pacers.

Danny Granger scored nine of his 22 points in overtime, after No. 1 pick Kyrie Irving missed a layup that would have won it at the end of regulation, and Indiana beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 98-91 on Friday night.

Indiana has shot below 40 percent from the field in each game this season, yet is off to a 3-0 start. Indy went 0-19 last season when shooting under 40 percent, but the Pacers have a new identity this season under coach Frank Vogel, a hard-nosed approach that emphasizes defense and rebounding.

Gone are the days when the Pacers flung 3-pointers at will — Indiana made just two against the Cavaliers. Indiana had three players with double-doubles for points and rebounds for the second time this season: Roy Hibbert had 17 points and 13 rebounds, David West had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Tyler Hansbrough added 11 points and 12 boards.

It’s what Vogel calls “smash mouth basketball.” And the Pacers say they are only going to get better.

“When we start shooting over 40 percent, it’s going to look a lot prettier out there, and we won’t have to grind these wins out,” Hibbert said. “Just to be able to do this now is great.”

Part of the reason Indiana has been able to get away with shooting so poorly is the team’s ability to make shots at key moments. Granger shot just 5 of 17 in regulation, but was 3 of 5 in the extra period. On Wednesday against Toronto, Granger made two big 3-pointers in the fourth quarter after struggling throughout the game.

“That’s what Danny does,” Hibbert said. “He makes big shots down the stretch and we follow his lead. David and I try to be defensive anchors, and everything else falls into place.”

George Hill added 15 points for the Pacers.

Irving led Cleveland with 20 points in his best game so far, but missed a layup that would have won the game at the end of regulation. Irving got by his defender and drove the lane for an open shot, but the ball rimmed out, and the game went to overtime.

“I had a great look at it,” the 19-year-old Irving said. “Wish it would have gone down for me and my teammates to get this win, but it didn’t. We fought hard in overtime. We just didn’t come out with the win.”

The Pacers knew they got away with one.

“Irving is a heck of a player,” Vogel said. “Not `going to be,’ but right now. He got by our pick-and-roll defense and got penetration to the basket. Fortunately, he missed.”

Irving said he’d learn from the experience.

“I left it all out there in the floor,” he said. “All you can do is leave it out there, play hard, and go to sleep and get better the next day.”

Anderson Varejao added 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Anthony Parker and Antawn Jamison each scored 12 points for the Cavaliers.

The score was tied late in regulation until West made a pair of free throws with 2:12 left to give the Pacers an 82-80 lead.

Irving made one of two free throws to cut it to 82-81 heading into the final minute.

Parker’s 3-pointer as the shot clock expired gave Cleveland an 84-82 lead with 17.5 seconds left. Indiana, with no timeouts, immediately went into its offense. West nearly lost the ball, regained control, drove and dropped in a floater with 4.4 seconds left to tie the score.

Granger took over in the extra period. He hit a layup while closely defended by Alonzo Gee. Jamison’s 3-pointer was blocked by West, then Granger hit a 3-pointer from the left corner to put the Pacers up 93-87, and Indiana maintained its lead from there.

The Pacers led 70-61 at the end of the third quarter. Cleveland made just 4 of 18 shots and committed seven turnovers in the period.

Hill carried the Pacers early in the fourth quarter. He hit a baseline jumper, then converted a three-point play to push Indiana’s lead to 75-64. Cleveland rallied, and a reverse layup by Irving trimmed the Pacers’ lead to 76-72 and forced Indiana to call timeout with 6:40 remaining. The game remained close the rest of the way.

“We took some bad shots, made some bad plays down the stretch, and we added fuel to the fire by giving up layups on the other end and giving Anthony Parker open threes,” Granger said.

Cleveland coach Byron Scott said it was a positive step for his young team.

“We had an opportunity to win the game before the overtime period, but I just loved the way our guys competed, against a team we feel is one of the better teams in the East,” he said. “Our effort was fantastic and something we should be proud of.”

Notes

Indiana F/C Jeff Foster sat out with a sore lower back. Vogel said he planned to use Foster sparingly early in the season anyway. … Cleveland coach Scott played for the Pacers for two years. … Indiana F Jeff Pendergraph missed the game with a sore right knee. … The Pacers failed to make a 3-pointer in the first half and Cleveland made just one. .. Cleveland G Daniel Gibson left the game in the second quarter with a sprained right ring finger. He returned in the third quarter. … Cleveland’s Samardo Samuels fouled out with 9:25 remaining.

CBSSports.com wire reports
Dec. 28, 2011

TORONTO — The Indiana Pacers learned plenty about what it takes to win close games during last season’s playoff loss to Chicago. Now, with David West on their side, they’ve got another option for those late-game situations.

Danny Granger scored nine of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and the Pacers held on to beat the Raptors 90-85 on Wednesday night, spoiling Toronto’s home opener.

Granger hit a key 3-pointer with 1:14 left and West followed with a fadeaway jumper to help stave off a Toronto rally.

“We have so many weapons down the stretch,” Granger said. “We have so many options. I think it’s going to be the mark of us being a good team.

Toronto coach Dwane Casey said his defense didn’t react quickly enough on either shot.

“Those two plays, with kind of hesitant rotation, really broke our back,” Casey said.

West, who scored 14 points, enjoys getting the ball with the game on the line.

“If there’s a play to be made, I’m just not going to back down from it,” West said. “That’s a situation I want to thrive in.”

Paul George scored 18 points, and Roy Hibbert had 12 points and 10 rebounds as the Pacers improved to 2-0.

Darren Collison became the fifth Pacers starter to reach double figures by making a pair of free throws with 2.5 seconds left. He finished with 10 points and 12 assists.

Pacers coach Frank Vogel has told his team to think back and take inspiration from last season’s Chicago series every time they go away from home this year.

“We treat it like a playoff game, quite frankly,” Vogel said. “We said in the pregame film session, if we’re going to be .500 or better on the road, we’ve got to come into these buildings and treat them like playoff games.”

Indiana’s road record will be tested early: This was the first game in a stretch that will see the Pacers play 15 of 21 on the road. But George is confident the lessons learned during last year’s postseason appearance will bear fruit.

“That playoff experience has definitely put us in the right mind on how hard we need to play,” he said.

Indiana, which beat Detroit at home on Monday, won for the seventh time in 11 games against Toronto, and snapped a streak of 11 straight victories by the home team in the series.

DeMar DeRozan scored 16 of his 22 points in the fourth and Andrea Bargnani finished with 21 for Toronto.

“[DeRozan] single-handedly got us back in the game offensively,” Casey said.

Jerryd Bayless scored 13 points and Amir Johnson had 10 rebounds for the Raptors, who won Monday’s season-opening game at Cleveland.

Indiana led by as many as 14 points in the fourth before Toronto came back. A 3-pointer by DeRozan and three-point play by Jose Calderon cut it to 80-74 with 3:26 left, forcing the Pacers to call timeout.

Granger’s 3-pointer made it 83-75 with 2:19 to play, but Toronto wasn’t done. DeRozan hit a 3 and Bargnani followed with a three-point play, cutting it to 83-81 with 1:35 remaining.

Once again, a long-range shot from Granger gave Indiana some breathing room, with his 3-pointer from the wing pushing it to 86-81 with 1:14 left.

Calderon answered with a layup for Toronto but West’s fadeaway jumper with nine seconds to play restored Indiana’s five-point cushion.

“We’ve got a lot of guys on the team that can hit big shots,” Collison said. “When you add D-West, it just gives us so many more options.”

The Pacers led 38-34 at the half.

Notes

• Indiana outrebounded Toronto 41-39.
• The Raptors had won five straight home games against the Pacers.
• Toronto made 19 turnovers while Indiana had 16.
• For the second straight game, Raptors backup C Aaron Gray was kept out as a precaution because of a rapid heart rate.
• Pacers C Jeff Foster (back) did not travel with the team to Toronto.
• Raptors F James Johnson had six steals, a career high.
• It’s the first time since 2000 that the Raptors have lost consecutive home openers. They were beaten by the New York Knicks last season.
• Canadian pop star Justin Bieber watched from a courtside seat.

INDIANAPOLIS —
After Monday’s season opener for the Indiana Pacers, it’s hard to argue with coach Frank Vogel’s early assessment.

“First impressions are we have a really good frontcourt,” he said.

The trio of Roy Hibbert, Tyler Hansbrough and first-year Pacer David West each had double-doubles in Indiana’s 91-79 victory over the Detroit Pistons at a sold-out Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Hibbert led the Pacers with team-highs of 16 points and 14 rebounds. Hansbrough led the second unit with 15 points and 13 rebounds and West made his Pacers debut, contributing 11 points and 12 rebounds.

The frontcourt heavily impacted the Pacers winning the rebounding battle 53-40 and provided 18 offensive rebounds.

First impressions of West—Indiana’s major free agent addition in the shortened offseason—were all positive and reinforced why he signed with the Pacers.

“I want to win. I don’t know how many guys played tonight but we still have more. Jeff (Foster) wasn’t in the there, Lou (Amundson) wasn’t in there, there’s a lot here,” he said. “There will be nights when one guy isn’t going or two guys isn’t going, this team is deep enough to pick up the slack. If we can just continue this passion about enjoying playing defense together, enjoying being unselfish offensively, the sky is the limit for this group.”

For being a part of a new team, in a shortened training camp because of the delay brought upon by the NBA lockout, the eight-year pro seemed to fit right in with the Pacers.

“My thing is just to make good basketball plays and try and play the game the right way,” West said. “I’m not going to reinvent the wheel or reinvent myself. I’m going to do what I’ve been doing in terms of the niche I’ve found myself in this league to be successful.”

While West did not have the best offensive performance, shooting 3-of-12 from the field, he took good shots and gave Indiana a solid post presence. There seemed to little transition for the two-time all-star.

“Guys are doing a really good job talking me through certain things, but it’s basketball ultimately,” West said. “Defensively we just have to continue to play together and enjoy helping each other and offensively, it’ll come.”

Tuesday’s game was West’s first regular season action since late March when he tore his ACL in his left knee. West said that the Pistons players were shocked with how well he looked in his return game.

“I felt great, I was amped up, I was hyper and I was just really excited to be out there, “ he said.

The trio of frontcourt players each spent time playing together in different combinations and like Coach Vogel said, the first impression is good.

“All three of us play together well, especially David, he’s very efficient and consistent so that’s an improvement,” Hansbrough said. “We had a good night tonight and hopefully we’ll keep it up and see what happens.”

Not playing for Indiana in the opener was 12-year Pacer center Jeff Foster (back) and newly-acquired 6-foot-9 Lou Amundson. Hansbrough feels that once those guys get integrated, it will make the frontcourt that much better.

“It’s very deep. Even when Lou gets a little more acclimated with the offense, he hasn’t been here long and he’s going to be helpful for us too,” he said. “And especially when Jeff plays, he’s a big asset to the team too.”

Third-year pro Hibbert spent his offseason all across the country working to try and improve his game. After one game, the 7-foot-2 center was satisfied with his performance.

“My main thing was defensively I keep those guys from scoring and I think I did a pretty decent job with that,” Hibbert said. “I have a lot of room to go but it’s a work-in-progress.”

Whichever combination of this trio of players is on the court provides a challenge for other teams. Though it is only one game into the 66-game shortened NBA season, the frontcourt has shown potential of the force they can become.

“We are continuing to learn each other to get that feel,” West said. “There will be times when Tyler and I play together, I feel like we can take advantage of that. Playing with a guy like Roy, getting him to be a little bit more selfish, when he gets that ball in the paint he’s looking to be a scorer. It’s going to take some time but we are going to learn it on the fly.”

CBSSports.com wire reports
Dec. 26, 2011

INDIANAPOLIS — Danny Granger couldn’t shoot straight for most of the night, yet the smile across his face as he iced his knees in the locker room after the game spoke volumes.

In the past, as Granger’s shot went, so went Indiana. He shot poorly on Monday night, but the Pacers still defeated the Detroit Pistons 91-79 in the season opener for both teams at the renamed Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Granger finished with 16 points on 6-for-18 shooting, but three Pacers had double-doubles, giving him a level of support that has been absent over the years. Roy Hibbert had 16 points and 14 rebounds, Tyler Hansbrough had 15 points and 13 rebounds and David West had 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Add a defense that held Detroit to 36 percent shooting, and Granger could finally be at peace on an off night.

“We definitely could not have done that last year,” he said. “We have the ability to crash the boards. I think our big guys did an excellent job of dominating the glass, on the offensive end also. We didn’t give up too many offensive rebounds. When they can dominate the glass like that, it’s going to be hard to beat us.”

It was ironic that this season of high hopes started with a win against the Pistons. After all, it was an altercation with the Pistons and their fans in 2004 that ultimately forced the Pacers to rebuild.

Indiana’s fans haven’t forgotten. As players were introduced, Ben Wallace, a central figure in that brawl, was booed loudly. The fans who saw a championship-caliber team dismantled after a flurry of off-the-court problems finally have returned, and a packed house saw the fruits of team president Larry Bird’s rebuilding effort on display.

West, the team’s big-name free-agent pickup, was active and affected the game, even though he struggled to finish down low. Guard George Hill, the hometown hero acquired in a draft-night trade with San Antonio, provided a spark off the bench and created a buzz whenever his name was announced.

Pacers coach Frank Vogel won his first game without an interim tag, and the team did it his way — with smashmouth basketball. Indiana outrebounded the Pistons 53-40.

“We still took a few too many bad shots, which I’m not too happy with,” he said. “But we were attacking the basket, we were getting to the free throw line and we’re making the extra pass, and that’s the style of play that we’re going to have. and it’s going to win for us.”

The Pacers shot just 37 percent from the field, but got away with it in part because they had 18 offensive rebounds and 14 second-chance points.

Detroit couldn’t get its offense going to take advantage of Indiana’s poor shooting.

“We just have to play a whole lot more together game,” Detroit coach Lawrence Frank said after his debut as Pistons coach. “More ball movement, more working to get rhythm shots. It just shows you where we’re at right now. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Jonas Jerebko and Rodney Stuckey each scored 17 points for the Pistons, who never led.

“Now we know what we’ve got to do,” Stuckey said. “We’ve got to stop complaining, we’ve got to rebound the basketball, we’ve got to play harder. That’s it.”

Indiana led big early, but Detroit made a push in the second quarter before back-to-back 3s by George and Darren Collison increased Indiana’s lead to 47-34.

The Pacers led 52-38 at halftime and kept rolling at the start of the second half. Collison hit a baseline jumper off an offensive board by West, then followed it with a 3-pointer to push Indiana’s lead to 59-42. Hibbert dunked and was fouled after a nifty inside feed from Granger. His free throw pushed Indiana’s lead to 62-42 four minutes into the second half and forced a timeout by the Pistons.

Detroit played a bit better right out of the timeout, but a bucket by Hansbrough and a fast break layup by Dahntay Jones pushed the lead back to 20 and forced another Detroit timeout with 4:42 left in the third.

This timeout didn’t work so well for the Pistons. Jones hit a long baseline jumper, then George Hill’s steal and dunk pushed Indiana’s lead to 74-50. The Pacers led 76-58 at the end of the third quarter.

A 3-pointer by Granger pushed the lead to 85-61 with 7 minutes left in the game. Pacers fans gave the team a standing ovation in the final minute.

Frank was impressed with the Pacers, but he didn’t get carried away.

“It’s one game,” he said. “What’s the big boulevard down here? I don’t know if there’s going to be a parade this year. They’re a good team, it’s one game, they outplayed us tonight.”

Notes

Pacers C Jeff Foster sat out with a back injury he tweaked during the preseason. … Pistons C Ben Wallace was loudly booed during pregame introductions. Wallace played a key role in the brawl in 2004 that eventually forced the Pacers to rebuild. … Indiana F Jeff Pendergraph missed the game with a sprained right knee. … Indiana outscored Detroit 16-4 from the free-throw line in the first half. … Hill had four points and four assists in his regular-season debut for Indiana.