Typically when you think of the San Antonio Spurs and Indiana Pacers locking up, high-scoring games don’t exactly come to mind.  Yet a funny thing happened on the way to Conseco Fieldhouse on Friday.  Both teams shot fairly well (Indiana shot 51.6% while San Antonio shot a sizzling 54.9%), which tells you that defense was an afterthought.  After the smoke cleared, San Antonio almost gave this game away, but managed to hold off Indiana 126-121.

San Antonio led by 12 after three quarters and appeared to have the game well in hand until Indiana started dialing long-distance (NBA codespeak for hitting 3-pointers); Danny Granger and Jarrett Jack connected on back-to-back treys to reduce the Spurs’ lead to 104-101 with just over 6 minutes left to go.  Troy Murphy would then connect on a 3-pointer then Granger made a layup, giving Indiana their first lead at the 5:29 mark of the fourth quarter.

The Spurs’ Tony Parker responded with a trey of his own and then a basket which put San Antonio up 120-117 with a minute remaining; a Tim Duncan tip-in gave the Spurs a 122-117 edge with just 31 ticks left on the game clock.  Michael Finley made a pair of free throws for San Antonio, then Indiana’s T.J. Ford was fouled.  Ford would miss the free throw with Duncan grabbing the rebound.  Manu Ginobili iced the game for the Spurs with a pair of free throws with 9 seconds left.

San Antonio’s high scorer was Parker with 31 points, 5 rebounds, 10 assists, a steal and a block while Duncan added 22 with 11 rebounds and 3 assists; Finley chipped in 18 with 3 rebounds, 2 assists and a block while Drew Gooden, from off the bench, poured in 17 with 3 rebounds, a steal and a block.  Ginobili scored 16 (including 3 treys) with 7 rebounds and 7 assists.

Indiana was led by Granger with 35 points (including three 3-pointers), 4 rebounds, an assist and a steal while Jack added 22 with 6 rebounds and 6 assists; Murphy pitched in 19 (including 3 treys) with 13 rebounds, 3 assists and a block.  San Antonio (49-26) plays again on Sunday when they travel east to Cleveland to take on the Cavaliers while Indiana (32-44) travels west to Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder – also on Sunday.