NBA ROUNDUP : Bulls Still Can’t Win in Indiana

Indiana might not contend for the title, but the Pacers are giving their fans their money’s worth these days.

Last Sunday they treated the home crowd--and a national television audience--to an upset over the Boston Celtics. Saturday night, the Pacers took it to the Chicago Bulls, 135-114, before a sellout Indianapolis crowd of 16,530.

Reggie Miller scored a season-high 40 points and the Pacers held Michael Jordan to six points in the second half as they snapped Chicago’s 11-game winning streak.

“We had to play good defense and move the ball in order to win,” said Miller, who was 14 of 20 from the field. “Right now, we are playing the best we are capable of playing and the guys are stepping up with the injuries we have.”

The Bulls, who won their four previous games by an average of 30 points, entered the game with a chance to tie an 18-year-old club record for consecutive victories. Instead, the Central Division leaders lost their fifth in a row in Indianapolis.

Miller was 14 of 20 from the field and helped shut down Jordan, who finished with 22 points.

“I must give Reggie and the others credit because they were playing good defense, but I thought I missed a lot of open shots, too,” said Jordan, who was eight of 23 from the floor and nine points under his average.

“We wanted to run hard, but we couldn’t find our tempo because they were able to take us out of that,” Bull Coach Phil Jackson said. “They were able to get through our pressure defense and get some easy scores.”

New York 115, New Jersey 105--Patrick Ewing scored seven of his 28 points in the final 3:10 at New Jersey, lifting Knicks to their fifth consecutive victory.

Gerald Wilkins put New York ahead for good, 96-95, by making two free throws with 3:38 remaining.

Wilkins had 23 points and has scored at least 20 in his past five games. Derrick Coleman had 21 for the Nets.

Miami 109, Dallas 103--Sherman Douglas scored 25 points and the Heat dominated the third quarter in a victory at Dallas.

Miami broke the game open with 12 consecutive points to take a 71-55 lead. The Heat has won two consecutive road games for the first time in franchise history.

Glen Rice and Grant Long scored 22 points each for the Heat. Rolando Blackman scored 19 points and Rodney McCray 18 for Dallas.

Denver 126, Orlando 111--Michael Adams scored 15 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter as the Nuggets thwarted an Orlando rally at Denver.

The Magic came back from a 13-point deficit to make it 102-97 with 6:56 left before Adams hit four consecutive field goals, one a three-pointer, to give the Nuggets a 111-97 lead with 5:16 to play.

Blair Rasmussen, starting because of injuries to Orlando Woolridge and Joe Wolf, had 25 points, 16 rebounds and eight blocked shots.

Seattle 120, Sacramento 106--Eddie Johnson scored 31 points at Seattle as the SuperSonics won their fourth consecutive game. Sacramento has lost 26 in a row on the road and nine overall.

Ricky Pierce had 26 points and Benoit Benjamin 16 points and 16 rebounds in his second start as the Sonics’ center.

Seattle Coach K.C. Jones singled out the performance of the team’s recent additions--Johnson, Pierce and Benjamin.

“I have to be happy because they scored most of our points,” he said. “You saw what Benjamin can do. He intimidated them in the middle, got us running and added scoring punch.”

Lionel Simmons led the Kings with 30 points.

Golden State 121, Charlotte 108--Chris Mullin scored 16 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter at Oakland and Tim Hardaway had 30 points and 14 assists as the Warriors broke a three-game home losing streak.

Rex Chapman had 22 points to lead the Hornets, who have lost 11 of 12 on the road.

Rod Higgins scored 21 points for the Warriors, including three three-pointers in the final quarter. Alton Lister had 14 rebounds.