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Sports

Pacers tune up for playoffs against Pistons

By Sports Network
Published | Updated

The Indiana Pacers are still one of the hottest teams in the league despite having their season-high seven-game winning streak stopped the last time out over the weekend.

Locked into the third seed in the Eastern Conference, the playoff-bound Pacers will resume a regular-season ending four-game homestand tonight versus Detroit and dropped a 109-106 overtime decision to Philadelphia on Saturday. David West poured in a game-best and season-high 32 points and pulled down 12 rebounds, while Paul George had 16 points and seven rebounds for Indiana, which entered the game having won 11 of 12 games.

Tyler Hansbrough added 17 points off the bench in defeat.

"That was a heck of a basketball game, playoff type atmosphere," Pacers head coach Frank Vogel said. "Philly made some really tough shots at the end of regulation and overtime. It was a hard-fought game at both ends."

Danny Granger was the only Pacers starter that failed to score in double figures with four points on 2 of 12 shooting. Granger grabbed 11 rebounds.

The Pacers, who already sewed up home court advantage through the first round of the 2012 Eastern Conference Playoffs, are 22-9 at home and will close out the regular season versus Chicago on Wednesday.

Detroit is playing out the string and won for only the third time in its previous 10 games with a 76-73 victory versus Toronto on Sunday.

Ben Gordon scored 15 points in the fourth quarter and finished the game with 19, as the Pistons ended a two-game slide. Brandon Knight also scored 19 points and Greg Monroe chipped in eight and 17 rebounds. Detroit managed to win despite making 36.6 percent of its shots and got nine points from Tayshaun Prince. Rodney Stuckey and Charlie Villanueva had seven points apiece.

"It's hard to describe," said Pistons head coach Lawrence Frank about the low scoring affair. "It was either good defense or some offense struggling for both teams. It was a grind it out kind of game."

After visiting the Pacers, Detroit will wrap up the truncated season with a home bout versus the 76ers.

The 2011-12 series between Indiana and Detroit is tied at a game apiece, but the Pacers have won nine of the previous 12 meetings between the Central Division rivals. The Pistons are winless in seven straight trips to Indy.