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Wizards and Pacers finish up home-and-home set in Indy

Dec 31, 2010 - 3:47 PM (Sports Network) - The road-exhausted Washington Wizards will close out a home-and-home series with the Indiana Pacers this afternoon from Conseco Fieldhouse, hoping to earn their first victory away from DC since last year.

The Wizards have lost all 15 road games this season and 16 in a row dating back to the end of the 2009-10 campaign. They recorded a 104-90 home victory in the opener of this brief set with Indiana on Wednesday, as Nick Young continued to shine this season with 25 points and a career-best nine rebounds.

Andray Blatche had 22 points and 11 rebounds, while JaVale McGee added 16 points and 10 boards for the Wizards, who used a 13-3 run in the fourth quarter to pull away and won for just the third time in their last 17 contests. Rookie John Wall scored 10 points and handed out 12 assists.

"Closing games out isn't about Xs and Os, it's about confidence in yourself and the belief in a teammate that you're going to get the job done," said assistant coach Randy Wittman, who took over on the bench while Flip Saunders tends to his ailing mother.

The Wizards achieved season-highs in total rebounds (54) and offensive boards (21) in the recent win and committed a season-low nine turnovers. Young leads Washington this season with 13 games with 20 or more points, and entered the previous contest averaging 20.6 ppg in his last six games. Blatche has scored 20 or more points in 10 games and has seven double-doubles.

Washington guard Kirk Hinrich left the game in the second quarter with a bruised left thigh and is questionable for Friday. He is averaging 10.2 points and 4.8 assists per game.

Indiana has dropped three in a row and seven of its last nine games.

In the loss in the nation's capital, Mike Dunleavy posted 20 points, Danny Granger had 15 and nine rebounds and Josh McRoberts provided 13 points and eight boards for Indiana, which is winless in its last seven road tilts.

Roy Hibbert was in foul trouble early and often, finishing with just five points and four boards. He wasn't too pleased with his performance afterwards, according to NBA.com.

"The way I've been playing, I should be in the damn D-League."

The Pacers are 8-8 at home this season and have won six of the past 10 matchups with the Wizards.

Washington is winless in its last five trips to Indy. It's also 0-10 on the road against Eastern Conference foes in 2010-11.