"The message was written on the board when the Indiana Pacers arrived for their meeting at Conseco Fieldhouse late Friday afternoon.

The message from coach Jim O'Brien said: "Just play with the defensive intensity you did the last nine minutes against New York and everything else will fall into place."

Mission accomplished.

The Pacers brought their defense back with them from New York and used it to beat the Washington Wizards 102-86 on the 10th anniversary of the opening of the fieldhouse.

"That's huge," Pacers point guard T.J. Ford said. "It gives us a lot of confidence knowing we don't have to worry about scoring. The scoring will come; we just have to continue to play defense like we're doing."

The Pacers, who have won two straight after losing their first three games, forced 19 turnovers and held the Wizards to 39 percent shooting.

Going back to the fourth quarter of Wednesday's game at New York, the Pacers have held their opponents to 34.6 percent shooting in the past five quarters.

"We've gotten in a groove and now we need to extend it," Pacers forward Danny Granger said. "The ball's in the paint and we're attacking it, getting our hands on it. We're blocking shots and not giving up easy layups."

Pacers center Roy Hibbert is making things easier for the perimeter players, doing a better job protecting the paint for a defense that has struggled the past few seasons."