Jeff Teague (photo. Hawks.com)
We don’t often lead Smack with the Pacers, but what transpired in Atlanta last night was too depressing not to. We found out yesterday morning that Danny Granger is now going to miss three months of action, and for Indiana, that’s a major loss. It showed in a 89-86 loss to the Hawks. After going up 14 in the fourth quarter, the Pacers’ offensive rhythm made us want to cry. They were more of a mess than Romney‘s campaign strategy. With Atlanta scoring 13 straight while Kyle Korver was balling like Jimmy Chitwood, Lance Stephenson went all Lance Stephenson on us and tried to connect on a 40-yard touchdown pass that got intercepted. The Pacers then had an ugly shot and a turnover to end their next two possessions before Roy Hibbert missed a layup and Paul George missed a wide open triple. After Jeff Teague (15 points, six boards, six dimes) converted the lead-swinging three and a layup to finish off an 18-0 run, Paul George airmailed a three-pointer in the final five seconds. If Lance Stephenson is the only one on your team who can make a shot late in the fourth quarter (he made one triple), you have problems … What’s up with tiny Atlanta guards making nightly trips to the Robert Pack hot tub time machine? Normally it’s been Teague. Last night it was Lou Williams, who introduced Tyler Hansbrough to shame … Denver is the first team to find the remedy for James Harden: all you need is Andre Iguodala. If Iggy wins a Defensive Player of the Year award this year, they’ll look back on this night as the start of it. The Nuggets survived by six in Houston with Iguodala harassing Harden (5-for-15, 0-for-5 from deep, 15 points, six turnovers) all over the floor. In the closing moments, Iguodala and the human wrecking ball Kenneth Faried (16 points, 16 boards) blocked both of the Beard’s shots … JaVale McGee was all over the rim in the second quarter, and for once it wasn’t all bad. Yeah, he had a stupid goaltend on his own shot, but he also caught a lob, and had a sick left-handed putback. In-between, McGee even had a turnaround jump shot. That outburst led to a second quarter run where the Nuggets ignited their turbo jets out of nowhere. Ty Lawson (21 points, eight dimes) got a one-on-one shot at Toney Douglas on the break, and had the Rockets backup guard spinning. Lawson hit him with an in-and-out and Douglas literally did a 360 in place. It was one of three fast-break layups Denver’s point guard got during a super fast 11-2 run (it swelled to 19-6). The next two times Lawson touched it, he dropped outside jumpers … How much does it suck to be a Charlotte fan right now? You watch your big man Byron Mullens (24 points, eight rebounds) tie a franchise record by making four triples in one quarter, and six for the game, and you’re all hyped about a possible win, until Shannon Brown (24 points) comes out of nowhere to make SIX THREE-POINTERS in the fourth quarter to seal a seven-point Phoenix W. On the final one – the game’s dagger – the Bobcats predictably had such a big hole in the defense that even the Kansas City Chiefs couldn’t have screwed it up … Also, Kemba Walker‘s (17 points, eight assists) barber forgot it isn’t the ’90s anymore … Keep reading to hear about the NBA’s Blake Lively …