Roy Hibbert had 20 points and eight rebounds as the Indiana Pacers shook off a rough first half to post a 99-77 home win over the Charlotte Bobcats on Saturday.
Hibbert led six Indiana players in double figures as the Pacers remained unbeaten at home. Tyler Hansbrough added 15 points and Darren Collison had 14 points and eight boards as Indiana shot 50.6 percent from the field.
D.J. Augustin led the way with 20 points for the Bobcats, who lost for the sixth time in seven games.
Trailing by six entering the second half, the Pacers came out firing and were rewarded with a two-point lead on Hibbert's putback 3:23 into the third quarter. Danny Granger followed with a long 3-pointer, and Indiana fought off repeated challenges to carry a 71-63 advantage into the fourth.
The Indiana lead reached 14 points on a Hansbrough jumper early in the fourth quarter, and the Bobcats didn't challenge the rest of the way.
Augustin and the Bobcats got off to a hot start, shooting 52.2 percent in the opening quarter to take a 30-22 lead. Augustin had nine points and six boards in the period, outrebounding the entire Pacers team.
Indiana closed the gap to two as the Bobcats went nearly four minutes without a field goal midway through the second quarter. Gerald Henderson responded with a pair of long jumpers late in the quarter as Charlotte went into the break ahead 49-43.
Charlotte | Indiana | |
D.J. Augustin 20 | Scoring | Roy Hibbert 20 |
D.J. Augustin 4 | Assists | Darren Collison 4 |
Byron Mullens 11 | Rebounds | Darren Collison 8 |
Byron Mullens 4 | Free Throws Made | Dahntay Jones 6 |
D.J. Augustin 1 | Steals | A.J. Price 2 |
Boris Diaw 2 | Blocks | Roy Hibbert 3 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Charlotte | 77 | 32.6 | 5-16 | 14-21 | 12 | 48 | 7 | 4 | 13 |
Indiana | 99 | 50.6 | 2-9 | 19-26 | 15 | 45 | 6 | 6 | 11 |