The Indiana Pacers were able to get back into the win column their last time out and will try to string consecutive victories together tonight at home versus the Charlotte Bobcats.
Indiana ended a five-game losing streak with Thursday's 93-88 triumph over the New Jersey Nets, as Danny Granger scored 32 points, including four clutch free throws down the stretch, and David West added 16 points and six rebounds for the Pacers, who opened a three-game homestand on the right foot and improved to 8-4 as the host this season.
Roy Hibbert posted a double-double with 13 points and 11 boards, while Paul George contributed 11 points, five rebounds and five assists in the win.
"We needed to pick up our defense if we wanted to win some games, and we did that tonight," said Granger.
The Pacers will close out the residency Tuesday versus New Orleans. They coming off their first set of back-to-back-to-back games in 13 years.
Charlotte is looking to post consecutive wins for the first time this season after it halted a franchise-worst 16-game losing streak with Friday's 98-91 win at Toronto in the second test of a three-game road trip.
Reggie Williams and Corey Maggette scored 22 and 16 points, respectively, for the Bobcats, who recorded their first win since a 112-100 triumph versus Golden State on Jan. 14.
"It's wonderful to win," said Bobcats coach Paul Silas, whose team moved to 4-26 for the season.
Rookie Kemba Walker notched 14 points in a winning effort, helping Charlotte to a 2-15 record as the guest this season. Walker has scored in double figures in six of his last seven games, averaging 17.4 points, 4.3 assists and 3.9 rebounds in that time. Williams is averaging 13.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 33.0 minutes in his previous seven games.
D.J. Augustin chipped in 11 points and 10 assists in his second game back after missing 11 straight games -- all losses -- due to injury. Bismack Biyombo scored eight points, grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds and blocked a career-high seven shots
The Bobcats, who haven't won two straight games since closing out the 2010-11 campaign with back-to-back wins, will host the Pacers in their next game on Wednesday.
Charlotte lost at Indiana, 99-77, on Jan. 7 this season and has dropped seven straight and eight of the last nine meetings between the teams. The Bobcats are winless in six straight trips to Indy and just 3-11 in the past 14 games as the visitor in this series.
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