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Granger paces Indiana over Atlanta

Apr 9, 2011 - 2:53 AM Indianapolis, IN (Sports Network) - Danny Granger scored 28 points and corralled seven rebounds in the Indiana Pacers' 114-102 win over fellow playoff-bound Atlanta.

Darren Collison had 16 points and 10 assists for the Eastern Conference's eighth-place Pacers, who have won two straight. The Pacers will play the East's No. 1 seed Chicago, who clinched the spot with a win against Cleveland on Friday, in the first round.

Roy Hibbert and Tyler Hansbrough had 14 and 13 points, respectively, while Hibbert grabbed 11 boards in the win.

"These are important games and we want to work on some things," Hibbert said. "We were aggressive right from the start."

Jeff Teague came off the bench to score 17 fourth-quarter points en route to a 21-point performance for the Hawks, who have lost three straight and are the No. 5 seed in the East playoffs. Joe Johnson had 17 points while Jamal Crawford added 13 points in the losing cause.

The Pacers never trailed in the game and built as much as a 10-point lead with 2.7 seconds left in the first. Crawford was fouled while shooting a three and he hit all three free throws to make it a 33-25 game after 12 minutes of play.

Indiana kept its distance in the second quarter and led as much as 12. Johnson's bucket with three seconds left made it a 56-50 Indiana lead at the break.

During the second half, Atlanta never really threatened and only cut the margin to eight several times.

Teague was 6-of-7 from the floor during fourth, but it wasn't enough as the Pacers shot 54.5 percent from the field in the quarter.

"We have to bring it every night," Teague said. "We need to get all our momentum going right now for the playoffs."

Game Notes

Pacers have won five in a row as the host...Atlanta guard Josh Smith did not play because of a sprained right knee...Indiana won the rebound battle 49-36...The Hawks had 13 turnovers which resulted in 20 Indiana points.