April 14th, 2008 
Stephen Rhodes 
Posted in ????????????????????????????????????
The Indiana Pacers had one simple assignment – win their remaining games and get a little help from Atlanta and their opponents; as it would turn out, neither happened.? In Monday’s game against the Washington Wizards, the Wizards’ bench came up huge, outscoring Indiana’s bench 70-22.? That made all of the difference as Washington eliminated Indiana from playoff contention, defeating them 117-110 at Verizon Center.
Both teams shot relatively well as Washington, after 3 quarters, led 98-81; however, Indiana managed to pull to within single-digits as Danny Granger drained a 3-pointer to make the score 112-105.? A dunk by David Harrison cut the Wizards’ lead to 6 with 29 seconds left in the game, and Marquis Daniels hit a trey with 18 seconds remaining to put the Pacers to within 3.? But the Wizards made 4 free throws in the final 20 seconds to hold on for the win.? Washington was led by their bench, specifically Roger Mason; Mason scored 31 points, including 7 three-pointers, 6 rebounds and 4 assists while Nick Young added 14 with 4 rebounds.
Indiana was led by Granger with 35 points, including 7?treys, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal while Mike Dunleavy scored 26 with 2 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks.? Washington (43-38) travel to Orlando to face the Magic on Wednesday while Indiana (35-46) returns home for their season finale as they host the New York Knicks – also on Wednesday.
