Fragen zum Forum » thats a makeable one, Payton said. W

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- The Indiana Pacers hope a renewed emphasis on defense will help turn their season around.Paul George scored 26 points and Indiana held Detroit to 38 percent shooting in a 105-90 win over the Pistons on Saturday.Weve got to be a consistent and well-coached defensive team, said George, who also had seven rebounds and two steals. Its the consistency that we have to match every night.Jeff Teague had 19 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for the Pacers, who snapped a two-game losing streak and beat the Pistons for the third straight time. Glenn Robinson III added 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Thaddeus Young also scored 12 points on 6-for-8 shooting.Indiana had six players score in double figures and shot 48 percent from the field. But it was near the bottom of the NBA in scoring defense coming into the day, so it was its work on that side of the court that was so encouraging for George and company.Offensively, well make shots, George said. But defensively, thats got to be us.Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 20 points for Detroit, and Reggie Jackson finished with 19 points and 10 assists. Tobias Harris added 13 points, and Andre Drummond grabbed 15 rebounds.The Pistons have lost three of their last four games, dropping into last place in the Central Division in the Eastern Conference.Were not in a good place right now, Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said. We have to get it back together.Detroit jumped out to an early nine-point lead, but George hit a 3-pointer to help Indiana to a 27-26 lead after one.The Pacers kept up the pressure in the second quarter and led 55-44 at the break. George and Teague each scored 14 in the first half.Indiana opened a 64-45 lead on Teagues jumper in the third. Detroit cut the deficit to 11 late in the period, but Georges 3-pointer gave Indiana an 83-69 advantage heading to the fourth.We always want to be aggressive attacking the basket, Pacers coach Nate McMillan said. If your attack forces them to commit to the ball, then you move the ball, its a simple basketball game.TIP-INSPacers: Rodney Stuckey (sore left hamstring) and Monte Ellis (right groin strain) did not play. ... Indiana improved to 7-2 in its last nine games at the Palace. ... The Pacers entered Saturday allowing their opponents to average 106.4 points per game.Pistons: Detroit allowed an opponent to score more than 100 points at the Palace for the first time this season, snapping a 12-game streak. It was the Pistons longest such stretch to begin a season since 2003-04. Weve been a pretty good defensive team throughout the season, Jackson said. We just havent been good as of late. ... Detroit is 8-5 at home after starting the season 5-0.CONNECTIONSRobinson III played college ball at Michigan from 2012-14. ... Stuckey was a first-round draft pick of the Pistons in 2007 and played with Detroit through 2014. ... Pistons assistant coach Tim Hardaway played with Indiana in 2002-03.UP NEXTPacers: At home Monday vs. Washington.Pistons: At Chicago on Monday. Discount Vans Shoes Online . JOHNS, N. Cheap Vans Sale . It was just business as usual for the Thunder at home. Durant scored 32 points and the Thunder beat the Bulls 107-95 on Thursday night for their eighth straight win. http://www.cheapvanssale.com/ . It just didnt show when he hit the ice. Berra made 42 saves and Kris Russell scored at 1:32 of overtime, lifting the Calgary Flames to a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night. Cheap Vans Shoes Wholesale . And follow TSN.ca right through Deadline Day for all the updates. From Pierre LeBrun While Anaheim GM Bob Murray said earlier this season he was not going to trade Jonas Hiller despite the fact hes an unrestricted free agent on July 1, some sources have told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun that Murray might be willing to move another goalie. Cheap Vans Shoes For Sale . Reassurance came from Paul Tesori, his caddie and close friend whose newborn son is in intensive care in a Florida hospital. "Paul sent me a text this morning, just told me he loved me and wanted to go out and fight as hard as I would any other day," Simpson said Sunday after doing just that. CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- When Luke Kuechly was carted off the field with a concussion, the tears streaming down his face as he left, it appeared the Carolina Panthers might be ready for another collapse.Their defensive leader was gone and another big fourth-quarter lead was crumbling.Instead, the Panthers did just enough to hold on and beat the New Orleans Saints 23-20 on Thursday night in a game marred by injuries to key players.When Kuechly went down the lead was at 10, and players gathered around him as he was put on a cart near midfield. Carolina would give up another score, but hold on for itsr third win in four games.We rally behind that guy, defensive end Charles Johnson said about Kuechly. Hes our leader. When you see a leader go down like that, we just rally behind him. Im keeping Luke in my prayers.The Panthers, who surrendered a 17-point lead and lost to the Kansas City Chiefs last week, entered the fourth quarter with a 23-3 lead before injuries began to take their toll. Along with Kuechly, the Panthers lost two-time All-Pro center Ryan Kalil (shoulder), top pass rusher Mario Addison (foot) and cornerback Leonard Johnson (chest) to injuries. The Saints lost running back Mark Ingram to a head injury in the third quarter.It was the Grim Reaper walking around out there, Panthers quarterback Cam Newton said.Saints quarterback Drew Brees seemed to seize the momentum.Brees, who had been held to 171 yards and no touchdowns in the first three quarters, rallied the Saints back to 23-20 with touchdown passes to Brandon Coleman and Coby Fleener.But an 18-yard reception by Kelvin Benjamin on a third-and-10 with 2:39 left in the game proved pivotal, taking enough time off the clock where Brees only had 14 seconds to work with on his final drive. He couldnt manage to get his team into field goal range.Newton finished 14 of 33 for 192 yards, including a 40-yard touchdown pass to Ted Ginn Jr. as the Panthers (4-6) pulled even with the Saints for third place in the NFC South.Our mantra is to Keep Pounding and it speaks volumes in situations like this, Newton said. I will take an ugly win over a pretty loss.Jonathan Stewart also ran for a touchdown and Graham Gano had three field goals.Carolinas next two games are on the West Coast -- at Oakland and Seattle.Hopefully, the time off will give us enough time to heal up for thiss long road trip, safety Kurt Coleman said.ddddddddddddAnd also you wonder if it wasnt a Thursday game and it was a Sunday game, would there be these type of injuries? You never know. ... Im just going to pray for everybody. Not only our team but their team.BETTER DEFENSEBrees finished with 285 yards passing.That was a dramatic difference from the last time the two teams met on Oct. 16 when Brees threw for 465 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-38 win over the Panthers.They did exactly what we hoped and that was keep the ball it in front of them, Rivera said of his young secondary. You cant ask for the guys to do a better job.KICKING WOESSaints coach Sean Payton was upset after the game about the teams continuing struggles on special teams, including a blocked field goal that was returned 73 yards by Kuechly before the half to set up Ginns touchdown catch.Last week the Saints lost to Denver when a potential game-tying extra point was blocked and returned for a 2-point defensive conversion.Fundamentally weve got to be able to kick an extra point. ... Weve got to be able to, you know, kick a field goal thats a makeable one, Payton said. Weve just struggled in that area. It cost us at New York, it cost us last weekend (against) Denver and it cost us again tonight. And weve got to be smart enough in the game early to understand that the turnovers arent good.LOSE SOME, WIN SOMEMaybe Ginn is just too fast for officials.In the first quarter Ginn appeared to score on a 14-yard run, but officials reviewed the play and ruled his knee was down at the 1-yard line taking away a touchdown. Then, in the closing seconds of the second quarter, officials ruled Ginn was out of bounds on a pass from Cam Newton. But after instant replay officials overturned the ruling and gave Ginn a 40-yard touchdown catch.UNDER PRESSURENewton was under heavy pressure for most of the first half, taking a sack on third down that took his team out of field goal range -- the second time he has done that in as many weeks.A COOL BREESBrees eclipsed 3,000 yards passing for the 13th consecutive season, tying Peyton Manning for the second-longest streak in NFL history.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '