Indiana Credits Ramsay for 144-135 Win

Wayman Tisdale said the score in Indiana’s 144-135 victory over the Dallas Mavericks Tuesday night was a surprise, and the second-year forward credited Pacers Coach Jack Ramsay with the victory.

“We knew we would have to work hard because Dallas is tough at home,” Tisdale said.

“But we were ready and determined to win. They made a lot of runs at us, but we didn’t fold, and Coach Ramsay called some very strategic timeouts. Whenever they made a run, he called time to stop their momentum and to keep us calm out there. It really worked.”

Tisdale and center Steve Stipanovich led the Pacers, each with 27 points. Ramsay said his team executed well and got a lot of good shots.

“We were able to hit them and shoot a high percentage,” he said. “We didn’t play very good defense, but you can’t have everything.”

The loss ended a four-game winning streak for Dallas, which also had a nine-game home-court streak broken. Dallas hadn’t lost at home since losing to the Lakers, 114-110, on Dec. 5.

Mark Aguirre had 28 points and Rolando Blackman had 24 for the Mavericks. Center James Donaldson, who scored 23 points, led all rebounders with 15.

“I didn’t feel we were ever in the game,” Dallas Coach Dick Motta said. “They never cooled off, and we didn’t have the intensity on defense like we’ve had in a lot of our games this year.”