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Wednesday, Mar 21, 2012 2:00 AM UTC

Granger leads Pacers past Clippers, 102-89

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Topics: From the Wires,

Granger leads Pacers past Clippers, 102-89Los Angeles Clippers guard Mo Williams, left, goes to shoot in front of Indiana Pacers forward David West in the first half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Tuesday, March 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)(Credit: AP)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Danny Granger scored 25 points to help the Indiana Pacers beat the Los Angeles Clippers 102-89 on Tuesday night.

Granger had been in a scoring slump, managing just 20 points combined in consecutive losses to the New York Knicks. He shot 7 for 17 against the Clippers, but added eight rebounds and made all eight of his free throws.

Reserves Tyler Hansbrough, George Hill and Leandro Barbosa helped Indiana’s backups outscore the Clippers’ reserves 50-23. Hansbrough scored 17 points, Hill had 15 and Barbosa 12 in his first game for Indiana since being acquired from Toronto last week.

Roy Hibbert added 13 points for Indiana.

Blake Griffin had 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Clippers. Chris Paul added 16 points and eight assists.

It was a chippy game in which players had to be separated several times but no punches were thrown.

Indiana led 54-46 at halftime on the strength of 32 points from the bench. Hansbrough had 15 points and Barbosa added nine.

Los Angeles got going early in the third quarter. Griffin’s two-handed jam off a lob from Paul brought the crowd to life and left the backboard shaking. Paul followed with a 3-pointer and a jumper that cut it to 56-55. The Clippers tied it at 62 on Nick Young’s 3-pointer.

Hibbert had a three-point play, and Granger hit a pair of 3-pointers to give the Pacers a 71-62 lead. The Pacers held the Clippers scoreless for 4:10 during the 11-0 run.

Indiana led 78-66 at the end of the third quarter. Granger scored 10 points in the period, and the Pacers held the Clippers to 8-for-22 shooting in the quarter.

A 3-point play by Barbosa pushed Indiana’s lead to 90-72 with just under 8 minutes to play. The Clippers rallied once more, but Hill’s 3-pointer with just over 3 minutes left pushed Indiana’s lead to 98-84.

Notes: Barbosa entered the game with 2:14 left in the first quarter. His first basket was a layup with 11:17 left in the second quarter. … Pacers F Lou Amundson went from scoring a career-high 21 points against Portland on March 13 to going scoreless in back-to-back games. … Griffin made a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired in the first quarter, just his second 3-point goal of the season in 10 attempts. … Pacers G Dahntay Jones drew a technical foul in the second quarter. … Young got his first start for the Clippers since moving from Washington to Los Angeles as part of a three-team trade.

___

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