Danny Granger didn't start out last night's game against the Utah Jazz so well. He missed all of his shots to start off the game, and after the 104-99 victory in Bankers Life Fieldhouse, he was more tired than ever. Apparently, he took too much medicine.
"It just slowed me down basically the whole time," Granger said. "It was supposed to help me sleep, but it kept me groggy the whole day. I was waiting for it to wear off and I started the game and I still was kind of groggy."
But he stepped it up at the right time in the fourth quarter when the Pacers needed him the most. After having over a 20-point lead, Indiana blew it up and the Jazz just somehow came back.
That's when Granger took control, scoring twelve of his 16 points in the fourth to help Indiana improve to 17-7. He went five-of-six shooting and made a great pass towards the end of the game, which led to Paul George for a wide-open three to put the Pacers up for good at 98-95.
Darren Collison showed himself once again that he is turning into more of a pro-caliber point guard now, as he stepped it up big last night with 25 points, five assists, and four rebounds. Roy Hibbert was unstoppable in the paint, getting another double-double with 17 points and ten rebounds.
The Jazz lose their second back-to-back game. Paul Millsap led Utah with 18 points and ten rebounds while Al Jefferson had 16 points and eight boards. After an 85-81 loss to the Orlando Magic on Saturday, Indiana was able to avoid another consecutive loss as they almost lost it versus Utah.
They were leading 57-46 at halftime, with Collison and Paul George on a roll. They eventually led by 21 after a Granger layup. However, the Jazz went on a big run and cut it to seven at the end of third, 84-77. They were making a comeback.
"We got relaxed and we got too comfortable and it came back to bite us," Granger said. "We let our guard down, and they made a run, and it almost cost us the game."
Gordon Hayward had six points in the run, as he made his homecoming back to Indiana after his amazing run with Butler just a few years back. Hayward would finish with eleven points for the Jazz. The Jazz were starting to roll.
"I just think it's a combination of things," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "We had a couple of plays at the rim where we didn't finish layups, we got a couple of bad calls, and we lightened up a little bit on the defensive end. It was a combination of those that led to a comeback like that. But the bottom line is we made the plays at crunch time."
Utah soon led 95-92 but a foul on Roy Hibbert with his shot down low tied up the game. And then came the shot by George that put Indy up 98-95. Collison soon extended the lead to five after the Jazz miss. Utah would come back soon enough, but Granger sealed the deal with another shot to make it 104-99. That was the ballgame.
Indiana will face a test tonight in Atlanta, though, as they face the Hawks. And a tip for Granger, find a different medicine.
"No more of that medicine," Granger said. "I took some bad medication."
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