Knicks @ Pacers 117-119

The Pacers didn’t need Danny Granger’s help to beat the New York Knicks on Sunday.

They wouldn’t have won the rematch without him.

Granger, who missed the win at New York with strep throat, hit the game-winning jumper with 0.3 seconds left and scored 26 points in Indiana’s 119-117 victory on Tuesday night.

Indiana passed the ball inbounds with 7.8 seconds left. Granger worked the clock, drove right on Shawne Williams, pulled up and connected on a 17-foot fadeaway.

Williams, a former Pacer who guarded Granger many times in practice, anticipated Granger’s first move.

“I tried to jump on his right hand, but he gave me a move,” he said. “You just got to get into him and make that shot more difficult than it was. I feel like he got too good of a look at the basket. He’s going to make those eight times of out 10.”

Indiana coach Frank Vogel’s game plan was simple.

“We wanted to get the last shot and we wanted Danny to take it,” he said. “That’s all the details were. Get the ball to your best player and, as time expires, get a shot off.”

Time didn’t quite expire, but New York couldn’t connect on a lob attempt as time ran out.

The Pacers were in position to win in part because Tyler Hansbrough scored a career-high 30 points. He set a career high with 29 points on Sunday.

“I love New York, but I just happen to play good against them,” Hansbrough said.

Carmelo Anthony was at a loss to explain how the Knicks let a player who averages 10 points explode for 59 points on 65 percent shooting in two games.

“We all know what he was capable of doing,” said Anthony, who led the Knicks with 29 points. “I don’t think we made adjustments to him at the top of the key. Especially after the game he had in the Garden, I would think we would make some adjustments after that. He’s played great these last two games.”

Darren Collison added 24 points and nine assists for the Pacers, who had lost six straight before the back-to-back wins over the Knicks.

“We had a rough stretch that, we all understand that we went through a tough time,” Vogel said. “We’re on our way back to being ourselves.”

Amare Stoudemire had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks. Toney Douglas and Landry Fields each added 17 points for the Knicks, who have lost three straight.

A jumper by Collison gave the Pacers a 116-115 lead with 24 seconds remaining. New York had a chance to take the lead, but Paul George stole Chauncey Billups’ bounce pass to Stoudemire. George was fouled and made one of two free throws with 13 seconds left to give Indiana a 117-115 lead.

Anthony made a layup on the other end with 7.8 seconds remaining to tie the score. He drove on Granger, who was playing with five fouls.

Granger responded with the game-winner.

“They made some big shots, but we came right back and made some big shots,” he said.

The Pacers surged ahead early in the third quarter. A power dunk in traffic by Hansbrough ignited the crowd, then Granger hit a 3-pointer and Collison scored on a fast-break layup to push Indiana’s lead to 76-66 midway through the period.

After a Knicks timeout, Hansbrough continued his onslaught. He scored another bucket, then converted a three-point play to make it 81-68. He finished with 15 points in the quarter.

New York closed the quarter on a 10-0 run to cut Indiana’s lead to 87-82 at the end of the period.

Indiana surrendered its lead in the fourth before rallying.

“Our execution down the stretch, in particular late in the fourth quarter, was terrific, and that’s what wins ballgames for you,” Vogel said.

The loss left the Knicks searching for answers.

“It feels bad,” Williams said. “We know we got to get it going, some kind of way. I feel like we all got to take a good look in the mirror and redefine ourselves. We got to take more pride in defense.”

Aldridge scored 30 in Portland’s victory over Dallas

Brandon Roy’s ongoing process for dealing with his knees is not to get too excited when things go well—as they did against the Mavericks.

Roy came off the bench to score 21 points, including a key jumper with less than a minute to go, in Portland’s 104-101 victory against Dallas on Tuesday night.

Roy, a three-time All-Star, had arthroscopic surgery on both knees in January because of too little cartilage, a condition that will likely bother him the rest of his career.

Since the surgery, he has come off the bench and his minutes have been closely monitored.

“It’s a process. I try to stay even keel with everything going on,” he said. “Tonight, I felt great.”

The Blazers led 100-94 with 3:50 left, but Jason Terry’s basket narrowed it to 100-99. Roy hit a pair of free throws before a pull-up jumper that made it 104-99 with 47 seconds left.

Dirk Nowitzki hit a pair of free throws, but after a timeout with 8.8 seconds on the clock, he missed a 3-point attempt from the corner and time ran out for the Mavericks.

“That’s the best I’ve seen him this year,” coach Nate McMillan said of Roy, who went on his own personal 10-4 run for the Blazers midway through the second half.

Nowitzki finished with 28 points and 11 rebounds for Dallas, which shot 59.7 percent.

LaMarcus Aldridge led the Blazers with 30 points and eight rebounds. Wesley Matthews added 18 points.

The Mavericks had a tense moment in the first half when Nowitzki left the court with what appeared to be a shoulder injury. He returned to the bench a short time later, however.

Dallas made its first 10 shots and didn’t miss until Brian Cardinal’s failed 3-point attempt with 3:25 left in the first quarter. The errant shot earned applause from the Rose Garden crowd. The Mavs shot 73 percent in the first quarter.

Dallas led by eight points early, but Portland narrowed the gap to 24-21 on Aldridge’s dunk. Portland briefly took the lead when Matthews’ 3-pointer made it 45-43. But Dallas quickly reclaimed the lead on Terry’s 3-pointer and the Mavericks were up 56-53 at the break.

The Mavericks extended the lead to 71-62 on Tyson Chandler’s dunk. The Blazers kept up the pressure, and Aldridge tied it at 76 with a turnaround jumper late in the third quarter. Portland took a 78-76 lead on Roy’s layup.

It was the first of 10 straight points for Roy that put Portland up 86-80 early in the fourth quarter.

“He made some tough shots. He looked like the Brandon Roy of old,” Nowitzki said. “If he shoots the ball like that, they’ve got two legit go-to guys with Aldridge, who is playing phenomenal, and him. They’re going to be tough to beat in the playoffs whoever they play.”

McMillan said Roy’s effort against Dallas doesn’t mean that his “process” in coming back this season will change.

“We’ve talked to him about his minutes. He’s feeling good with the minutes that he’s been getting and we need to keep him there,” the coach said. “That’s working. We haven’t had any setbacks.”

Roy said that half of what he’s dealing with is mental.

“I’ve got to challenge myself to push through, and know that my body’s OK,” he said.

The Mavericks were without Brendan Haywood who was sitting with lower back stiffness. Peja Stojakovic missed his fourth straight game with a stiff neck.

The Blazers switched things up by starting Gerald Wallace in place of Marcus Camby. Wallace, an All-Star last season, came to the Blazers in a trade with Charlotte at the deadline last month.

Camby had arthroscopic knee surgery in January and his minutes have been limited since his return. McMillan did not say whether the change was permanent.

Portland was home after two straight losses on the road. The Mavericks were coming off a 96-91 loss at home to the Lakers on Sunday.

Westbrook, Durant lead Thunder past Cavs 95-75


Russell Westbrook dunked on the Cavaliers. Byron Scott slammed them even harder.

Westbrook began a personal 12-point scoring tear by crushing a two-handed jam in the third quarter that awakened his listless Thunder teammates and led Oklahoma City to a 95-75 win Sunday over Cleveland, leaving Scott to doubt his team’s toughness.

“I’m really starting to question what type of heart we have as a basketball team,” the coach said.

Westbrook scored 14 of his 20 points in the third quarter, helping the Thunder open a 20-point cushion and coast to an easy win. He began his one-man sideshow by delivering a dunk that stunned the Thunder, the Cavs, ushers, vendors, mascots and 19,000 fans.
Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Byron Scott watches from the bench during the fourth quarter of a 95-75 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in an NBA basketball game, Sunday, March 13, 2011, in Cleveland.

“It caught us all by surprise,” Kevin Durant(notes) said. “That was a big-time dunk. I’ve been waiting for that one.”

Westbrook followed it up with five consecutive layups, spinning around or blowing past any Cleveland defender daring to cover him.

Scott was incensed that none of his players bothered putting a body on Westbrook.

“It was too easy,” he said. “He’s a great player, but it gets to a point as a team where enough is enough and somebody has to knock him on his (rear end). It’s as simple as that, and that’s where the heart part comes in. Or are you just going to keep backing down and taking it?”

Durant, the NBA’s leading scorer, had 19 points—nine below his average— but the Thunder hardly needed their superstar while improving to 19-6 against Eastern Conference teams.