Reggie Miller scored five crucial points down the stretch and finished
with 24 as the Indiana Pacers overcame a 19-point second-half deficit
en route to an 84-79 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
Miller had five points in a pivotal 25-7 third-quarter burst that brought
the Pacers within 60-59. His three-pointer gave Indiana its first lead of
the second half at 80-77 with 32 seconds to play.
"After we double-teamed the ball to get the thing out of his (Mark
Jackson's) hands, he gets Reggie the ball and that is automatic. That was
the ballgame," Mavericks coach Don Nelson said.
Michael Finley answered with a layup just over eight seconds later, but
Rik Smits, who scored 16 points, sank a pair of clutch foul shots to
push the lead back to three.
"We wanted to try and put them away early, but that wasn't the case
tonight," Smits said. "It was a tough road back for us but I was glad we
did it. Players stepped up and made some big shots."
Mavericks guard Hubert Davis had a chance to tie the game, but his
three-pointer was well off the mark. Miller drained two free throws with
two seconds remaining to seal the victory for Indiana, which has won
five of its last six games.
Shawn Bradley had 17 points and 14 rebounds and Samaki Walker
added 14 and 12 for Dallas, which has lost back-to-back contests since
snapping its 15-game losing streak.
"Good teams find a way to win, and unfortunately we only played so
well for so long," said Nelson, who briefly left the game with back
spasms.
Indiana, which has won eight of its last 10 games against the Mavs, has
held its last five opponents to just 79.6 points per game.
Jackson contributed 13 points and eight assists but committed four of
the Pacers' 18 turnovers. Indiana forced 17 turnovers, shot 43 percent
(31-of-72) from the floor and made 16-of-28 free throws.
Dennis Scott chipped in 14 points but was held scoreless in the second
half for Dallas, which shot 37.5 percent (33-of-88) from the field and
attempted just 12 free throws, hitting seven.
Walker's jumper built the Mavericks' lead to 53-34 with 9:20 left in the
third quarter before Indiana answered with the 25-7 run. Miller hit a free
throw and a jumper before Jalen Rose drained a three-pointer and
Antonio Davis sank a foul shot to cap the burst with 35 seconds left.
"One of the things that we have to realize is that once you get a team
down, you have to put them away," Dallas forward A.C. Green said.
"We have to put the excuses aside and take the responsibility head on."
Fred Hoiberg drained a huge three-pointer with 1:08 left in the game,
tying the score at 77-77. The Pacers forced Dallas into a shot-clock
violation before Miller hit his pivotal three-pointer.
"We didn't finish that great but we made some plays at the end," Pacers
coach Larry Bird said. "Hoiberg's three-pointer was the biggest of the
night. Our defense was excellent when we had to have it."
DALLAS BOX SCORE
REBOUNDS
PLAYER POS MIN FGM-FGA FTM-FTA OFF-DEF-TOT AST PF ST TO PTS
====== === === ======= ======= =========== === == == == ===
GREEN F 27 3-8 0-0 4 2 6 2 3 2 0 6
WALKER F 39 7-15 0-0 4 8 12 1 5 0 3 14
BRADLEY C 40 5-16 7-12 6 8 14 2 4 1 2 17
FINLEY G 43 6-19 0-0 0 2 2 3 3 3 3 13
SCOTT G 35 6-13 0-0 0 4 4 5 1 3 2 14
REEVES 23 4-5 0-0 0 1 1 0 2 1 2 10
STRICKLAND 18 2-9 0-0 1 3 4 4 1 1 2 5
DAVIS 11 0-3 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0
RILEY 4 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0
MUURSEPP DNP - COACH'S DECISION
PACK DNP - COACH'S DECISION
WELLS DNP - COACH'S DECISION
TOTALS 240 33-88 7-12 15 30 45 18 21 12 14 79
(.375) (.583) TEAM REBS: 10 TOTAL TO: 17(15 PTS)
Blocked Shots:
INDIANA - Smits 4, D Davis 2, A Davis.
DALLAS - Walker 3, Bradley 2.
3-Point Field Goals:
INDIANA 6-16 (.375), Miller 3-6, Jackson 0-3, Best 1-1, Rose 1-2, Hoiberg 1-4.
DALLAS 6-20 (.300), Green 0-1, Finley 1-6, Scott 2-5, Reeves 2-3, Strickland 1-3, Davis 0-2.
Technicals:
None.
