Poor New Jersey Nets. Chalk it up to having a young and inexperienced roster. Injuries factor in, as well. But for whatever reason, the Nets are who they are – a winless team. And the team would hope to break a 10-game losing streak against an Indiana Pacers squad that prior to Tuesday night’s game, was on a 4-game roll. The Nets had only eight players suited up and the Pacers took advantage of the Nets’ personnel shortage. While neither team shot well, Indiana managed to escape the IZOD Center with a 91-83 over New Jersey.

Neither team shot especially well, with Indiana shooting 39.2% while New Jersey struggled at 36.3%; the Pacers took it to the Nets early on as they created an 11-2 run, capped by a Dahntay Jones layup with 8:44 in the first quarter. They would increase their lead to 16 on a three-point play by Solomon Jones at the 3:11 mark of the period. They would take a 31-21 edge going into the second quarter. Things slowed down markedly for both teams in the second frame, although the Nets did reduce their deficit to 50-46 on a pair of Trenton Hassell free throws with 1:09 left; Indiana would go into halftime enjoying a 54-46 advantage.

The third quarter was really slow as both teams shot terribly as it was reminiscent of a high school contest; both teams, to illustrate how bad the period was, combined for 27 points. Despite that, Indiana would take a 7-point lead into the final period. The Pacers hit paydirt early in the final quarter as they again took a double-digit lead at 75-63 on a pair of free throws by Danny Granger with 7:22 remaining; a three-pointer by Earl Watson with 1:58 left in the game sealed the deal for Indiana.

Granger led the Pacers with 22 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and 2 blocks while Roy Hibbert tied a career-high with 19 along with 10 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and 3 blocks; Jones chipped in 17 with 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and a block.

New Jersey was led by Chris Douglas-Roberts with 27 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal while Brook Lopez added 26 with 16 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and 5 blocks; Rafer Alston scored 14 with 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals. Indiana (5-3) plays again when they host the New York Knicks Wednesday while New Jersey (0-11) hopes to get their first win of the season as they make the short commute to Milwaukee to take on the Bucks – also on Wednesday night.