Roy Hibbert scores 20 to help Pacers follow win at Boston with 99-77 victory ... - Washington Post

INDIANAPOLIS â€" Indiana Pacers players and coaches often have said depth is one of the team’s best assets.

They proved it on Saturday night.

Roy Hibbert scored 20 points and led six players in double figures to help the Pacers beat the Charlotte Bobcats 99-77.

The teams were in similar situations, both having played tough games one night earlier. Indiana was coming off an 87-74 win at Boston, while Charlotte was following an overtime loss to Atlanta.

The Pacers were running full speed in the second half as the Bobcats were wilting. Indiana trailed 49-43 at halftime but outscored Charlotte 56-28 after the break.

Indiana’s reserves outscored Charlotte’s 21-11 in the second half.

“We’ve got eight guys, maybe nine that could probably start on other NBA teams,” Pacers forward Danny Granger said. “That’s a lot of depth. I’d like to say we have more depth than most teams.”

Hibbert, who briefly left the game with a sprained right ankle, also had eight rebounds and three blocks. Tyler Hansbrough scored 15 points, Darren Collison had 14, Granger and George Hill each added 13 and David West 10 for the Pacers (6-2), who improved to 3-0 at home.

“Handling home,” Hill said. “It’s something that we preach. We want to be unbeatable here and .500 on the road. Any time you can do that, it can get you a long way.”

D.J. Augustin scored 20 points, Gerald Henderson had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Byron Mullens added 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Bobcats (2-6).

Indiana shot 51 percent and held the Bobcats to 33-percent shooting â€" the fifth time the Pacers have held an opponent under 40 percent.

“It says a lot about our team because it was a grind-it-out game against a veteran team,” Granger said. “We grinded them out, we put our defense out there and played to the best of our ability. Those are the kind of games you have to win.”

Charlotte disappeared after halftime.

“We did not play tough,” Charlotte coach Paul Silas said. “They banged us up and we didn’t respond. We played hard in the first half, and I’m not sure what happened in the second.”

The Pacers made a run early in the third quarter. A layup by Collison tied the score at 51, and a tip-in putback by Hibbert on Indiana’s next possession put the Pacers ahead. Granger broke out of his slump to push Indiana ahead 56-51. Charlotte shot 1 for 8 from the field during Indiana’s 15-3 run to start the second half.

Hibbert scored on back-to-back possessions to give Indiana a four-point lead before he went down with the ankle injury. Right before Hibbert was hurt, Hill was issued a technical foul after disagreeing with a foul call against him, but Augustin missed the free throw and the Bobcats failed to score on the extra possession.

The Pacers took advantage when Jeff Foster scored on a putback to bump Indiana’s lead to 68-62.

Indiana led 71-63 at the end of the third after shooting 57 percent from the field in the quarter, while Charlotte made just 5 of 25 shots in the period.

“We allowed them to be too comfortable in what they were doing (in the first half), so we pressured the ball more, tried to force some more turnovers, and it worked,” Granger said.