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Pacers use balanced attack to beat Celtics

Jan 7, 2012 - 5:08 AM Boston, MA (Sports Network) - Danny Granger led six Pacers in double-figures with 15 points, and Indiana put the clamps on the Celtics en route to an 87-74 victory at TD Garden.

Darren Collison had 14 points, George Hill added 13 and Roy Hibbert put up 11 points and 12 rebounds for Indiana, which held Boston to 39 percent shooting and improved to 5-2 on the young season.

"We really are taking that next step to become a defensive team. We really want it to be our niche," Collison said. "We have a lot of offensive power on our team, but the only are we going to win games and get to where you want to go is on the defensive end."

Ray Allen paced the Celtics with 23 points, Kevin Garnett added 12 points and six rebounds, but the other member of the "Big Three," Paul Pierce, was held to 10 points on 3-of-17 shooting.

"Ray's doing what he does, he knocks down shots so we get him open but unfortunately myself and some other guys didn't step up enough offensively for us to win," Pierce said.

An ugly first half saw the Pacers shoot 4-for-20 in a 14-14 first quarter and the Celtics hit 3-of-18 in the second stanza.

Indiana scored the final eight points of the half to take a 33-25 lead into the break and maintained the eight-point edge heading to the fourth, 63-55.

Allen drained a three-pointer early in the final quarter to pull Boston within 65-60, but Jeff Foster made a hook shot at the other end and Hill hit from behind the arc on Indiana's next two possessions to build to 73-60 cushion.

The closest the Celtics got from there was seven.

Game Notes

Boston had won four in a row coming in...Allen missed Boston's win over the Nets on Wednesday because of the flu...Indiana split its four-game road trip...Indiana snapped a seven-game skid in Boston...Paul George and Tyler Hansbrough each netted 12 points for Indiana...Rajon Rondo had 11 points and nine assists in defeat.