Published November 10, 2008 11:28 pm - Former Texas guard leads Pacers to 107-99 win over OKC
Built Ford tough
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — With a little more height and a bit of luck, T.J. Ford might have had back-to-back triple-doubles.
His 6-foot frame left him a bit short on rebounds in both games, but he’s fine with it because the Pacers won each time. Ford had 24 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds on Monday night to help Indiana beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 107-99.
In his previous game, Ford had 13 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in a victory over New Jersey. He’s never had a triple-double in his NBA career.
“It will come,” Ford said. “I’m not a big guy that’s trying to play off stats. If it happens, it happens.”
His teammates are having fun with the fact that the shortest player on the team has somehow been among its top rebounders the past two games.
“That’s pretty good for a 5-7 guy,” forward Danny Granger joked.
Ford scored 11 points in the fourth quarter as Indiana (3-3) pulled away. Granger added 20 points and seven rebounds for the Pacers, who won their second straight.
Kevin Durant led the Thunder (1-6) with 37 points and eight rebounds, but he was dissatisfied with his team’s effort in the fourth quarter.
“I found some good looks, I was able to knock some down, but we’ve got to learn how to finish our games.”
No other Oklahoma City player scored more than 14 points in the team’s fourth consecutive loss.
“We’re trying to find our way offensively in the halfcourt,” Oklahoma City forward Nick Collison said. “We struggled. When Kevin scores close to 40, it’s great for us, but we’ve got to find a way to get some easy buckets, too.”
Ford took charge of the offense in the fourth quarter when Granger, the Pacers’ leading scorer this season, got into foul trouble.
Indiana led 96-95 in the fourth quarter, but Oklahoma City had a chance to take the lead when Indiana’s Jeff Foster took a charge from Russell Westbrook. Indiana’s Marquis Daniels made a layup to make it 98-95, then another turnover by the Thunder led to a running bank shot by Foster that gave the Pacers a 100-95 lead.
Ford drained a 3-pointer with 1:14 to go, then made a layup with 37 seconds left to make it 105-99 and put the Pacers in control for good.
“Sometimes you’re going to be able to make those shots, sometimes you’re not,” Ford said. “Fortunate enough, they went in tonight.”