TJ Leaners, MurphDog Comebacks, Stitches, Brad Miller, and Muppet Basketball...Oh My!

We’ve seen it before, but that shot had no business going in.

I don’t know how many times TJ Ford will have to hit a contested jumper with the game on the line before I can start trusting that it’s a legitimate shot. That’s gotta be at least his third of the season. The man has no fear. Can you say 21st Pacer game decided by 3pts or less (We’re 9-12! Woohoo!).

It was a big win (in some circles), an exciting win, and lots of weird stuff happened. MurphDog came back from a sprained MCL by surprise while Foster sat with a mysterious foot injury. Josh McRoberts took Foster's place and played out of his mind, coming off the bench to score 10 points in 18 minutes.

Despite playing with a lot of energy, I still think that Josh looks like a muppet. It’s not so much that he actually looks like a muppet (although he kinda does); it’s more that he looks like a muppet if were to imagine a muppet playing basketball.



Granger also knocked heads with Kirk Hinrich in the third minute of play, and both required stitches above their eyes. Oddly enough, both guys came back and combined for 7-7 shooting after getting sewn up.

Granger finished with 31 pts, 4rbs, 2blks while Hinrich had 20pts, 7rbs, 7asts. MurphDog had another double-double with 15-12, while DRose also had a pretty good game (big surprise against the Pacers D) with 24 pts, 11rbs, and 6asts. Furthermore, Tyrus Thomas solidified his place in Roy Hibbert's nightmares with two more stuffs against our woeful big man, who hacked his way to 5 fouls in 17 minutes. As a side note Brad Miller’s old-man pump fake worked 10293801985 times and he managed 14 pts, 8 dimes, and 5 rbs.

Regardless of Miller’s sorcerous trickery, all that matters is that the Pacers were able to overcome a 5 point deficit with 2:45 left. This was capped off when Granger hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 42 seconds left, putting Indy up 105-103. Then Ben Gordon hit a jumper of his own with 38 left, tying the game and setting up TJ Ford’s signature crazy and for-all-intents-and-purposes-ill-advised leaner that ended the game 107-105.

Now the Pacers sit 3.5 games behind the Bulls with 7 games left.

The math still adds up, but it’s a pretty long shot.

At least there isn’t as much pressure on us as there was/is on the Suns…