If you haven’t done so already, go to NBA.com and click Indiana Pacers forward Danny Granger as an All-Star; after his performance tonight against the Golden State Warriors, you will understand why.  He scored 17 of his game-high 41 points to help lead Indiana past Golden State 127-120 at Conseco Fieldhouse for their second straight victory.

As one would expect between these two teams, the first half was a track meet as while neither teams shot especially well, they did rack up points nonetheless as the Pacers went into halftime leading the Warriors 68-62; however, Golden State began the third quarter hot, including a jumper by Marco Belinelli tied the game at 81 halfway through the period.  A 3-pointer by Jamal Crawford gave the Warriors an 84-83 lead; the Pacers would respond as Jarrett Jack’s putback with 5.5 seconds left in the period sent them to the fourth quarter with a 95-93 lead.

Golden State held the lead at 103-101 before Granger made a jumper and a 3-pointer to put Indiana up 106-103 with 6 minutes remaining, a lead they would cling to until the final horn.  Indiana was led by Granger with 41 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, a steal and 2 blocked shots while Jack added 24 with 6 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and a blocked shot; Marquis Daniels chipped in, scoring 23 with 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and a blocked shot while Brandon Rush recorded a double-double, scoring 10 with 11 rebounds.  Jeff Foster, while scoring only 6 points, grabbed 11 boards.

Golden State’s high scorer was Crawford with 29 points (including 4 three-pointers), 9 rebounds and 4 assists while Belinelli added 21 (including 5 treys) with 4 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal; Stephen Jackson pitched in, scoring 20 with 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and a blocked shot while Kelenna Azubuike added 18 with 9 rebounds, 2 assists and a blocked shot.  Andris Biedrins contributed 16 with 10 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.  Indiana (9-16) plays again on Friday when they host the Los Angeles Clippers while Golden State (7-19) travels to Atlanta to face the Hawks – also on Friday.