The Indiana Pacers don’t overly rely on any one player to score in their offense, but Danny Granger is regarded as their most talented and prolific scorer.
So where has he been in the first three games of the series vs. the Miami Heat? Granger’s 17-point night in Game 3 was his largest output thus far, and helped the Pacers open up a 2-1 series lead. His other two games were 11 and 7 points, respectively.
The answer is that he’s drawing the defensive assignment against LeBron James.
"I don't know if it's his defense; he's a good defensive player, but I think more importantly, I'm forced to guard for 48 minutes," Granger told The Indianapolis Star. "I'm not really used to guarding that many pick-and-rolls. Most small forwards don't handle (the ball) that much.
"A lot of my focus is on stopping him rather than scoring a lot of points. We have other guys who can score if need be."
Granger is overestimating his playing time some, as he's averaging just under 40 minutes in the series. But 40 minutes guarding LeBron certainly may feel like 48 against some other players. Granger shot 6-of-15 from the floor Thursday night, a performance slightly better than his first two games combined (6-of-24).
But if the Pacers keep winning, we’re betting Granger won’t mind seeing his individual stats slip.
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