The drought is over.  The Indiana Pacers finally recorded their first win of the season with a solid 101-89 victory over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

Even though it was a double-digit win, the Pacers were neck and neck with the Knicks until the 4th quarter, when they cranked up the defensive intensity all Pacers fans had been waiting to see since the start of the season.  The result was a brutal period for the Knicks, who were held to 2-17 shooting in the quarter and were outscored 28-15.  Impressively, the Knicks did not make a single field goal in the final 9 minutes of the game.

In my opinion, this was a statement game for the Pacers.  A game to show the detractors (including myself) that the rest of the season will not go on like it did in the first 3 games.  For starters, even though Danny Granger struggled with his shot again (7-18, including 2-8 from downtown) and fouled out with 3:38 remaining, he managed to contribute with a solid all round game, with 21 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and a blocked shot, though he did commit 5 turnovers.  More importantly, he hit some big shots to spark the Pacers run that pulled away from the Knicks.

Secondly, Roy Hibbert posted his second career double-double (the first coming in the previous game against Denver) with a splendid 15 points and 14 rebounds (including 7 offensive boards) plus 2 blocked shots.  The most amazing thing about this game for big Roy?  Zero fouls in 29 minutes of action.  Sure, this was the Knicks without much of an inside presence, but if Hibbert can stay on the floor like he did in this game, there’s no reason why he can’t average a double-double for the entire season.  Right now he is averaging one, with 10.8 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks.

Thirdly, Brandon Rush scored in double-digits at last, putting up a double-double of his own with 12 points and 10 rebounds, to go with 2 steals and a block.  Nevertheless, Rush continues to struggle with his shooting, going only 4-12 from the field (including 2-8 from three-point range) and 2-4 from the line.  For the season, he is shooting 0.387 from the field, 0.143 from behind the arc, and 0.500 from the free-throw line.  Hopefully Rush will find his touch again doesn’t wait until the end of the season like he did in his rookie year.

Fourthly, Dahntay Jones continues his impressive run with the Pacers.  He was brought in for his defensive abilities, but few knew he could score like this.  Maybe he just didn’t have much of an opprtunity in Denver with guys like Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups.  Dahntay has been in great form so far, averaging a career high 15.5 points through 4 games (his previous career high for a season was 7.5).  He could definitely be a stayer in Indiana if he keeps this up.

Last but not least, TJ Ford, who had been (as mentioned in my last post) horrendous so far.  He wasn’t doing much better for most of this game either to be honest, but he stepped it up at the end when it counted.  With less than 4 minutes in the game, Ford only had 8 points, but he managed to keep a steady head and racked up 8 more points in the remaining time to finish with 16 points, all of them on clutch buckets and free throws.  Still, for some reason TJ has not been passing this season.  He had only 2 assists for the game against New York and is averaging 1.8 assists for the season.  For the team to be competitive he needs to start passing again.

No matter what, Pacers fans no longer have to fear a winless season.  Up next is another tough battle back home in Indiana against the Washington Wizards.  The Wizards are only 2-3 so far this season, but they’ve been dangerous because Gilbert Arenas is back and averaging 27.6 points per game.  With guys like Andray Blatche, Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and Randy Foye all averaging double figures, it’s going to be a firm test of Indiana’s new defensive philosophy.  If they can replicate what they did in the 4th quarter against the Knicks, I’m confident the Pacers will be able to pull out the victory.