INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Frank Vogel never doubted his Indiana Pacers.

In his early weeks as interim coach, he often talked as though Indiana’s presence in the postseason would be a foregone conclusion, even though he took over a team that was 10 games under .500.

His team backed up his confidence.

Danny Granger scored 25 points, and the Indiana Pacers clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 2006 with a 136-112 victory against the Washington Wizards last night.

Indiana improved to 19-16 under Vogel, who turned the team’s fortunes despite going with a younger lineup that won while experiencing growing pains.

“It’s a credit to Frank and his staff,” Granger said. “Granted, we still have some problems, and we had some problems along the way, but with the time they had to rehaul the team and do things differently, I think they did a great job.”

The Pacers needed a win and a Charlotte loss to Orlando last night to clinch a playoff berth. As the Pacers’ game ended, the Orlando-Charlotte game was in overtime, and the Conseco Fieldhouse staff put the game on the Jumbotron. Many fans stayed to cheer to the Magic on to a 111-102 win.

Paul George scored a career-high 23 points and Darren Collison added 15 points and 11 assists for the Pacers, who posted their second-highest point total of the season.

Jordan Crawford scored 29 points and Andray Blatche added 23 for Washington. John Wall had 19 points and nine rebounds.

Indiana shot 60 percent from the field and the Wizards allowed the most points they have in a game this season.

“Energy caught up to us,” Washington coach Flip Saunders said. “I was worried before the game. Guys just didn’t seem to have that pep in their step. We almost really lost the game in the first seven minutes.”

Granger, who was averaging 20.4 points coming in, ended a streak of five straight games under 20 points.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Danny Granger scored 25 points, and the Indiana Pacers clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 2006 with a 136-112 victory against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night.

The Pacers needed a win and a Charlotte loss to Orlando to clinch a spot in the postseason. As the Pacers’ game ended, the Orlando-Charlotte game was in overtime, and the Conseco Fieldhouse staff put the game on the Jumbotron. Many fans stayed to cheer to the Magic on to a 111-102 win.

Paul George scored a career-high 23 points and Darren Collison added 15 points and 11 assists for the Pacers, who posted their second-highest point total of the season.

Jordan Crawford scored 29 points and Andray Blatche added 23 for Washington.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jason Richardson’s 19-point performance tipped him over the 13,000 career point mark as the Orlando Magic disposed of the stumbling Indiana Pacers, 111-96, at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Indianapolis, IN (Sports Network) – Jason Richardson’s 19-point performance tipped him over the 13,000 career point mark as the Orlando Magic disposed of the stumbling Indiana Pacers, 111-96, at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Dwight Howard posted 19 points and 16 rebounds and Hedu Turkoglu scored 18 and collected six rebounds for Orlando, which bounced back from a 103-96 loss to Detroit on Monday and won its fourth game in five tries.

The Magic had a well-balanced attack which saw six players in double digits including Ryan Anderson, Jameer Nelson and JJ Redick.

Danny Granger had a game-best 27 points while Darren Collison poured in 21 points for the Pacers, who suffered a season-worst sixth straight loss. Mike Dunleavy and Paul George each had 10 points in the loss.

© 2011 The Sports Network

The Boston Celtics will dust themselves off and try to get back into the win column again when they continue a three-game road trip tonight against the Indiana Pacers at Conseco Fieldhouse.

(Sports Network) – The Boston Celtics will dust themselves off and try to get back into the win column again when they continue a three-game road trip tonight against the Indiana Pacers at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Boston had a season-high 14-game winning streak stopped on Christmas Day in Orlando, as the Magic squeezed out an 86-78 triumph at Amway Center. Kevin Garnett scored a game-best 22 points and Paul Pierce netted 18 for the Celtics, whose last loss was on Nov. 21 at Toronto and produced their lowest- scoring game of the season.

“We just didn’t lock down defensively like a team that knows how, especially down the stretch,” Pierce said. “That’s usually our bread and butter, down the stretch – we’re able to hold teams. It was completely opposite.”

The Celtics are still without point guard Rajon Rondo, who’s nursing a sprained left ankle and has missed four straight games. In other team news, center Shaquille O’Neal, who had two points in 13 minutes on Saturday, was fined $35,000 for comments regarding the officiating crew in the recent loss.

Boston will also visit Detroit on the road swing and is 10-4 away from Beantown this season.

Indiana will put the finishing touches on a three-game homestand Tuesday and has lost five of its last seven games, including Sunday’s 104-90 setback versus the Memphis Grizzlies. Rudy Gay scored a game-high 30 points for the victors, while Danny Granger led the Pacers with 29 points and Roy Hibbert finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Mike Dunleavy finished with 10 points and eight rebounds, as the Pacers fell to 8-7 in Indy this season.

“They played a sharper game than we did in most phases,” Pacers coach Jim O’Brien said. “We just got outplayed. I don’t think we were sharp.”

Tonight, the Pacers will try to avenge a 99-88 road setback to Boston on Dec. 19 this season and have lost three straight and nine of the past 11 meetings.

Indiana has a good shot at bouncing back in this series since the Celtics are 6-10 in the previous 16 matchups at Conseco Fieldhouse.

© 2010 The Sports Network