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Granger paces Indiana over Charlotte

Mar 24, 2011 - 3:46 AM Charlotte, NC (Sports Network) - Danny Granger finished with a game-high 33 points as the Indiana Pacers used a strong second half to handle the Charlotte Bobcats, 111-88.

Tyler Hansbrough finished with 24 points and Roy Hibbert posted 13 points and 14 rebounds for the Pacers, who have won three of four.

"We knew that this was a team that we could defend," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "We had defensive confidence all night, we knew that if we kept working we would get stops that would lead to easy buckets."

D.J. Augustin paced the Bobcats with 17 points. Kwame Brown scored 16 with nine rebounds and Shaun Livingston added 15 points on 6-of-9 from the field off the bench.

The Bobcats have dropped four straight overall and were swept in the four-game season series with Indiana.

Stephen Jackson, who played with a sore left hamstring, paced the Bobcats with nine points on 4-of-5 from the field in the first quarter and Charlotte took a 28-23 lead into the second.

"This was very disappointing," Bobcats coach Paul Silas said. "Any loss is disappointing. I am not saying we didn't play hard, we just didn't have it tonight."

The Bobcats widened their lead to as high as 12 in the opening minutes of the second quarter when a D.J. White jumper with 9:20 remaining made it 38-26.

A Jeff Foster dunk and Granger three-point play cut the Pacers' deficit to 38-31, and started a methodical Indiana comeback. Paul George added a pair from the line with 5:29 remaining to start an 8-3 Indiana spurt, capped by a Hansbrough layup to give the Pacers a 47-45 lead.

Granger canned a three-ball with 1:41 remaining to put Indiana up 52-47, but the Bobcats pulled within 54-53 heading into the locker room.

Hansbrough and Granger both posted 10 points in the third quarter as Indiana took a commanding 87-72 lead into the final stanza. The Pacers shot 57.9 percent from the field in the third quarter made 4-of-5 from long range.

Charlotte forward Tyrus Thomas left the game at the end of the third quarter with bruised ribs and did not return. He finished with six points.

The Pacers' lead remained in double-digits for the entire fourth quarter as they held the Bobcats to only 16 points on 23.5 percent from the field.

Game Notes

Jackson finished with 11 points...Brandon Rush scored 11 points for Indiana...Indiana held a 37-28 rebounding advantage...Charlotte is 17-17 at home this season...The Pacers finished a three-game road trip 2-1.