This pales in comparison to Paul George’s high-flying act on tuesday, but pretty nice nonetheless.

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There was a mini-dust-up between Danny Granger and Kevin Love late in the third quarter during Indiana’s 109-99 win over Minnesota earlier tonight. It was most likely one of those “he-did-he-thought” things. Love clearly reached out and smacked Granger with his arm extended and also sorta grabbed Granger’s shoulder while he was fouling him and lost his balance. But Danny, not having eyes in the back of his head (as anyone who has seen him pass can attest … ZING), thought Kevin was doing it more-on-purpose than he likely was. Perhaps he was up to something a little more nefarious. Love said it was a “hard foul.”

Either way, nobody was harmed, Danny yelled, Love just sorta stood there, Michael Beasley and Frank Vogel rushed over, and nothing really happened. But then something did happen.

Granger, who was already having a whale of a third quarter (15 points in the period up to that point), scored 14 more points following the fracas as his team pulled away. And he was ultra-physical and aggressive while waging his little one-man army campaign in a way that you know he was all sorts of charged up. As the philosopher Billy Hoyle once prophesized, Danny, unlike most guys, seems to play better when he’s mad.

After the win, Roy Hibbert wanted to make sure the rest of the NBA knew that Love had erred in his ways. So as a word of advice, he took to Twitter let everyone know they shouldn’t make the same mistake of angering his captain.

Great win tonight. Lesson to the league don’t get @dgranger33 mad. Y’all been warned!!

So take that to heart, league. You’re on notice about getting Danny Granger mad, according to Roy Hibbert.

The foul that started it all.

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After the Pacers beat the Bulls in Chicago last week, Derrick Rose took exception to Indiana’s over-exuberance in celebrating the win. “I can’t wait to play them again,” he said, vowing revenge. Pacers Coach Frank Vogel later jabbed the Bulls back with some words, which my mom told me, unlike sticks and stone, can never hurt me. Thus, a sorta-feud was born.

Now, another young, usually mild-mannered NBA All-Star is lashing out at the team from the Hoosier State after getting beat on his home court. Look at how much Kevin Love doesn’t like the Pacers. (My emphasis added)

“I’ve said all along,” Love said, “I don’t like the Pacers.”

Love and Pacers forward Danny Granger almost came to blows with 23.7 seconds remaining the third quarter after Love was whistled for a foul and Granger approached him aggressively.

Players bumped into each other, with Michael Beasley and Martell Webster helping separate the pair. But like just about every fight in the NBA, it was all talking and no punching.

“I know that none of them were going to do anything,” said Love, who finished with 21 points. “Just play ball. It’s part of the game — a hard foul, everybody is getting fouled out there.”

The escalating feud between the two teams extends back to last season, when they split a pair of physical contests with each team winning on their home court.

“(They think) they are so tough,” Love said. “They take those pills and they got all that toughness. I don’t know where that comes from. They all think they are tough guys. I just don’t know where that comes from. It just blows my mind. They are all tough and that makes me laugh.”

The teams won’t play each other again until April 16 at Indiana, but it appears Love is already looking forward to it.

“I guarantee the next time we play them, it will be just as physical,” he said.

I’m not sure what pills he is referring to but he is clearly an authority on who is and who is not a tough guy. He has a scraggly beard and all, you know.

UPDATE: Danny Granger responded to Kevin Love on Twitter.

In response to @kevinlove’s “pacer toughness” comments… We don’t act tough, we just play hard. If we have to be tough then we will be…

In addition to wins, these Pacers sure are racking up the feuds.

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I went to watch Liam Neeson fight wolves last night and, I must, say, they looked a lot tougher than these ones from Minnesota. Moreover, by besting the Timberwolves 109-99 in Minnesota — without even fashioning Freddy Kruger claws out of mini liquor bottles — Indiana improved to 9-5 (.643) on the road this season. There is only one NBA team that has won on the road at a better clip: the Oklahoma City Thunder (with the Chicago Bulls being Indy’s equal).

The Pacers were dominant defensively in the first two quarters, holding the Wolves to a staggering 31.9% on 15-for-47 shooting. They couldn’t capitalize and create any real separation, however, as they only shot 41.9% themselves, turned the ball over 9 times, gave up 7 offensive boards and lost the FTA battle (only 10 vs. 13, but still). They went to the locker room up 45-41. The bench was again miserable (3-for-10 shooting) and Danny Granger couldn’t hit anything (2-for-8).

But things soon turned around for the team — and especially for Granger — in the second half. Danny started getting to the line, getting to the rack and sticking threes to put the Pacers up by as many as 10 late in the third quarter.

Then things got really interesting.

After Granger grabbed an offensive board, Kevin Love grabbed his shoulder and, seemingly because he was off-balance, sorta yanked Danny backwards. Mr. Granger was none too pleased and got right in Love’s face, hooting, hollering, mean-mugging and even putting his hands up into Kevin’s torso with a little push. Despite Michael Beasley rushing over, cooler heads prevailed and the only fallout was a technical foul for Danny. Granger got some free throws of his own for the foul on Love and calmly knocked down his 16th and 17th points of the quarter to keep his team up 8.

The lead ballooned up to 14 in the fourth. The Wolves managed one last run to bring it close but, as it turned out, their bark was … worse than their bite. I’ll be here all week. No seriously. The Pacers play, like, seven games in the next three days. See what this compressed schedule is doing to us bloggers? Did you read that “joke”?

Good night.

Here is how each guy played individually tonight. Agree? Disagree? Express your thoughts below in the comments or yell at me (@8pts9secs) or Tim (@TimDonahue8p9s) on Twitter.

	David West - 24 MIN | 5-14 FG | 2-2 FT | 8 REB | 12 PTS Another uneventful game for West, who sat most of the 2nd half. He was 4-for-9 at the half but only made 1 more of the 5 shots he took afterward. Get excited. Still, near double-double in limited time.
	Danny Granger - 41 MIN | 9-19 FG | 13-15 FT | 7 REB | 36 PTS Best game he’s played this year and I can’t recall the last time he played better. Point total speaks for itself but 15 FTAs is the real story. Had 29 in the second half and got downright ornery after a near-scuffle with Love that earned Danny a tech.
	Roy Hibbert - 35 MIN | 6-9 FG | 3-4 FT | 9 REB | 15 PTS You know this guy has become a true force when he finishes with 15 and 9 on 6-for-9 and 3 blocks and I’m like “Oh, yeah, I guess he was a little more unstoppable than normal.”
	Darren Collison - 33 MIN | 7-12 FG | 5-5 FT | 6 REB | 9 AST | 20 PTS Overshadowed by Granger’s excellence/theatrics but perhaps the best statistical game he’s played in a Pacer uniform. More importantly, he owns this team at this point. So much good decision-making all game.
	Paul George, SG 19 MIN | 4-6 FG | 4 REB | 1 AST | 10 PTS Was in foul trouble a lot of the night but played fine when he was in there. Didn’t really need him though.

	Dahntay Jones - 20 MIN | 2-5 FG |  1 REB | 1 AST | 4 PTS Yup.
	Louis Amundson - 10 MIN | 1-3 FG | 1-4 FT | 2 REB | 3 PTS He had much more effect on this game than the numbers show. Just mucked everything up in a good way and got two offensive boards in succession when the Pacers were pulling away.
	A.J. Price - 15 MIN | 1-7 FG | 3 REB | 1 AST | 2 PTS Wasn’t good.
	Tyler Hansbrough - 27 MIN | 3-8 FG | 5 REB | 2 AST | 7 PTS Pissed off Love more than anything else and it looked like all the bumping, shoving, pushing and general annoyance — which West started and Roy and Lou helped with — took Kevin out of his rhythm at times.
	Lance Stephenson - 15 MIN | 0-1 FG | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS Also wasn’t good.

* This recap was edited to reflect Granger’s accurate 3rd quarter point total. I counted wrong before. It also was changed to reflect that the Bulls, unbeknownst to me, and ESPN’s standings page, lost in Philly last night.

No related posts.

You can follow Jared Wade (@8pts9secs) and I (@TimDonahue8p9s) during the game on Twitter for the Pacers’ side. From the Timberwolves side, be sure to check out our True Hoop sister site: A Wolf Among Wolves.

One little note – I think Derrick Williams was actually the third guy I wanted to mention, but you can see for yourself.

UDPATE: Upon waking up this morning I found out that the news for George Hill was, indeed, very bad. Per David Woods of the Indy Star:

Hill was sidelined indefinitely by a small chip fracture in his left ankle during the Pacers’ 106-99 victory over the New Jersey Nets at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Time for the Pacers to adopt the Colts’ “Next Man Up” strategy. Last night, coach Frank Vogel went with Lance Stephenson. Lance played well for awhile, then not well for awhile. Whether that experiment will succeed, or last very long, remains to be seen. Should Stephenson falter, the Pacers will turn to A. J. Price.

In any case, here’s hoping for a speedy recovery for George Hill.

For my fellow stat geeks and obsessive-compulsives, I give you the fact sheets.

Pacer Fact Sheet

Timberwolves Fact Sheet

Related posts:

1. Twitter Video Preview: Can the Pacers Sweep the Celtics in the Garden This Year?
2. Twitter Video Preview – Pacers Are Goin’ to Disney World!
3. Pacers Trade Rumor: Danny Granger for the #2 Pick, Ricky Rubio and Michael Beasley

It’s draft week so you know what that means … lots of rumors that probably will never amount to anything. This one that Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting within a piece about Josh Smith being on the block is certainly a no-brainer for Indiana though: Roy Hibbert and the Pacers’ #15 pick this year to the Wolves for their #2 pick.

With an eye on drafting Arizona’s Derrick Williams, the Indiana Pacers have discussed a package including center Roy Hibbert and the 15th pick for the Minnesota Timberwolves’ second overall pick, league sources said. Nevertheless, the overture hasn’t gained traction in Minnesota.

Unless Larry Bird is including another substantial asset, I can’t believe that even David Kahn would consider this anymore than the equally implausible rumor thrown around last month that he reportedly all but laughed at.

But anything that gets Derrick Williams — a young, athletic, foundational piece that any team can use as a franchise cornerstone — is something Pacers fans should be at least excited about.

They have about 56 hours to work something out.

If only Kevin McHale was still running the show in Minneapolis.

Larry Bird is reportedly targeting the kid many expect to be the best NBA player in this year’s draft.

Related posts:

1. Pacers Trade Rumor: Danny Granger for the #2 Pick, Ricky Rubio and Michael Beasley
2. Larry Bird Wants to Make a Trade “If We Can Get a Good Player”
3. UPDATE: Larry Bird on Failed Trade: Deal Pulled Off the Table with Two Minutes to Go

Pacers are ones making seriously play for No. 2. Granger is being mentioned. So are Rubio and Beasley. Again, more later on FOX.

That should get people talking.

Royce Young of CBS’ Eye on Basketball, for instance:

According to a tweet from Sam Amico of Fox Sports, the Pacers are “making a seriously play” for the No. 2 pick. By “serious,” the word is that Danny Granger is part of a proposed deal along with Ricky Rubio and Michael Beasley.

In other words, wow, that would be a pretty major deal.

It’s all talk at this point, but maybe there’s a bit of fire to go with this smoke. Granger has been rumored to be on and off the trade block in Indiana a couple times in the past year and with Derrick Williams from Arizona being the likely prize at No. 2, Larry Bird is willing to trade his franchise player for a shot at a new one.

According to a tweet from Mike Wells, however, it seems as though a hypothetical deal — as it was presented by Amico anyway — is unlikely.

Kahn via text on the Minny/Indy rumor: “You mean we don’t have to give them (Kevin) Love too?”

This doesn’t mean the Danny for #2 still isn’t being discussed but it certainly does make it seem that Kahn is not interested in giving up that much for the Pacers best player.

More to come, I’m sure.

Related posts:

1. Would the Pacers Trade Danny Granger?
2. Wolves Offer Al Jefferson for Danny Granger. Larry Bird “Immediately” Turns It Down
3. Why Danny Granger Wears Number 33

Sometimes the classroom gets out of hand. Sometimes the teacher needs to speak up, get the unruly little jerks back in their seats, and impose some guidance. No lessons are going to get learned when the students are bickering, pursuing their own interests, or even trying to hold class … because there’s a way this is supposed to work, and letting the students do their own thing isn’t it.

The Indiana Pacers, second youngest roster in the NBA right now, need some guidance.

After Wednesday’s blowout loss to the Timberwolves, the Indianapolis Star got second unit point guard A.J. Price’s take on the problem.

“Man to man, we all want to win individually, but we’re not all playing as a team and I think that’s why we’re not winning,” Price said. “Until we come back together as a team, we won’t win.”

“Lately we haven’t been in sync, and we haven’t been together as a unit,” Price said. “That’s why we aren’t winning games.”

Roy Hibbert added his thoughts.

“Teams are adjusting to what we’re doing and we don’t know how to win,” Hibbert said.

Of course they don’t know how to win. They’re the students in this scenario. Under the tutelage of the mean old teacher that used to run the classroom, they reached the point where they were trading skeptical sideways looks with each other, even making faces when the teacher’s back was turned. The old fellow tended to ramble on and on about his pet theories, after all. He would present reams of statistics for the students’ edification. He pushed his own ivory tower schematic of how a classroom is run, lessons successfully learned, tests completed with passing scores, even when the test results consistently placed his class in the lower echelons of academic accomplishment.

That’s why the substitute teacher (something Lester Connor called himself last year when he filled in for O’Brien) was such a breath of fresh air. No more odd educational theories need apply. Our class is back to basics. “Smashmouth,” old-school educating at its finest. Readin’, writin’, and ‘rithmetic.

The kids responded well. Enthusiasm for learning blossomed. Test scores soared.

But at some point, the whole glorious process faltered. We don’t really know why. Did the students start bickering with each other over who was the best student? Did that new kid cause friction? Is the substitute teacher just too inexperienced to keep the students following the curriculum? We don’t know. Even putting our ear to the classroom door reveals nothing but noise that seems inappropriate to a learning environment, but what exactly is all the commotion is about?

Don’t know.

The youth of the team is not the issue. The Timberwolves are even younger, and they put the Pacers out of that particular spelling bee early. What we do know, what is abundantly clear even to those of us with no teaching certificate, is that Teacher needs to step up his game. Soon. Like, now.

And the teacher in this tortured extended analogy, Coach Vogel, says he’s ready to fix the problem.

“Clearly we’re struggling on the offensive end. We’re struggling as a basketball team. We will work until we come out of it, and we will come out of it.”

Coach, teacher, all the concerned citizens of the school system hope you’re up to it. Classroom discipline is not always easy to regain once it’s lost, particularly perhaps for a substitute teacher. The results are going to go a long way toward helping the school board decide if the substitute teacher gets called back next term.

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But, c’mon, Chris Mannix … it’s going to take at least 5 more years for Indy to reach 253 losses. (His power rankings have now been fixed, but you can check them out anyway. Power rankings are by definition stupid, but I like Mannix so his are at least insightful for what they are.)

(Screenshot via @dv140)

At least the Pacers are still up 55 games on the Wolves in the loss column. Plus, I think they have the tie-breaker if it comes down to that for home court advantage in the Finals.

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Talentwise, this could have been one of the more “our talent for yours” rather than financial-based trades in the NBA of late, but Larry Bird isn’t having any of it. Nor should he, in my opinion. Even though Danny’s struggling badly this season, his two-way ability and his pure shooting stroke are significantly more valuable to an NBA team than Al Jeff’s ability to score and draw a double-team in the post.

And apparently Wolves GM David Kahn feels the same way.

While Pacers president Larry Bird remains determined to build around Granger, sources say Kahn has become increasingly dubious on making Jefferson a cornerstone for the Timberwolves.

So far, Kahn has tried to undo almost everything from the Kevin McHale regime, and trading Jefferson would be another significant step in that direction.

Woj has some other info on any other potential Pacer deals before the trade deadline.

The Pacers, who are tied for the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference, could be dealers before the trade deadline, but league executives believe Indiana has all but ruled out any moves that would include Granger or center Roy Hibbert. After missing a month with a foot injury, Granger returned to the Pacers’ lineup on Friday. He has become one of the league’s best young scorers, averaging 24 points a game.

Seems pretty obvious. Talentwise, Granger obviously isn’t untradeable. But considering that he represents the one truly positive thing that has occurred in Indiana since November 2004, any deal that allowed Danny to leave the state would probably have to be a much better offer than any other team is likely to make.

Larry Bird not targeting Al Jeff. Get it? “Targetting”? Cause there’s a Target logo in the photo? See it? Whatever. You try writing this crap everyday.

Related posts:

1. Danny Granger’s Flip Video Diary
2. Danny Granger Featured as a Guest Writer for SLAM Magazine’s “How to Improve Every Year”
3. Game #32 Preview: Zach Harper Talks Wolves