February 10th, 2008 
Stephen Rhodes 
Posted in 
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The Indiana Pacers, if they expect to be relevant in the still-weak Eastern Conference playoff race, will need to start winning some games in a hurry; despite shooting 36.9% from the floor, the Pacers managed to escape from Conseco Fieldhouse with a 101-93 over the Portland Trail Blazers Saturday night.
Fast forwarding to the second quarter, the Pacers led at halftime 51-48; they started the third quarter with a 13-6 run, which included 6 points by Troy Murphy, giving Indiana a 64-54 lead.? Portland would commit 9 turnovers in the period, which would help the Pacers lead 74-63 going into the final quarter.? The Pacers were up by 11 when Travis Diener made a 3-pointer to make it 91-77 with a hair under 6 minutes to go in the game; Portland methodically chipped the Pacers’ lead to 99-93 on a floater by Travis Outlaw.? Unfortunately for the Blazers, they would not score again.
Indiana was led by Danny Granger with 29 points (including 4 three-pointers), 4 rebounds, 3 steals and a blocked shot; Diener scored 15, including 3 treys.? Murphy added 13 with 8 rebounds, 3 assists and a blocked shot; Jeff Foster and Kareem Rush both recorded double-doubles – Foster chipped in 10 with 14 rebounds, an assist and a blocked shot, while Rush contributed 10 with 11 rebounds and an assist.?
Portland was led by LaMarcus Aldridge with 21 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal; Martell Webster scored 18 with 8 rebounds and a blocked shot, while Jarrett Jack and Outlaw added 15 each – Jack also grabbed 3 rebounds, dished out 10 assists with 2 steals, while Outlaw grabbded 4 boards.? Indiana (21-30) continues their homestand by hosting the Boston Celtics on Tuesday, while Portland (28-22) travels to Texas to take on the Houston Rockets Monday.
