Miller Heats Up, Keeps Pacers Hot in Overtime

With a flick of his wrists, Reggie Miller turned a dismal eight-for-20 shooting performance into a moment to remember Sunday night.

Miller made a 13-foot baseline jump shot at the overtime buzzer to give Indiana a 99-97 victory at Phoenix, the Pacers’ sixth victory in a row.

With 2.5 seconds to play, Miller took a midcourt inbounds pass from Mark Pope, drove to the baseline and fired an arching shot over Phoenix’s Jason Kidd that swished through as the horn sounded.

“The question wasn’t if I was going to get the shot off, but where I was going to shoot it,” Miller said. “I gave it the pump fake and one dribble and let it go.

“I always like to silence the crowd on the road. That’s what separates the good players from the great players. It was me against 19,000 people, screaming and clapping. When I hit the shot, it was so quiet.”

Miller, scoreless in the first half after missing all five of his shots, finished with 19 points as Indiana won its fifth in a row on the road on Coach Larry Bird’s 41st birthday.

Danny Manning had 25 points for the Suns, who rallied from a 10-point deficit with 3:57 to play to force overtime but saw their three-game home winning streak stopped.

Indiana has won nine of its last 10 overall and has yet to give up 100 points in a game this season.

Phoenix was only the fifth team to score at least 90 against the Pacers, but the Suns hurt themselves by shooting only 42.5% from the field and 50% from the free-throw line.

“We were lucky to be in overtime,” said Phoenix Coach Danny Ainge. “We played bad the first three quarters. The crowd got us going in the last quarter and then we really started playing.”

Milwaukee 97, Seattle 91--Vin Baker won the opening tip, scored the game’s first points and finished with 29 on his return to Milwaukee, but it was not enough to beat his old team, the Bucks.

Terrell Brandon, who came to Milwaukee in the three-way trade that sent Baker to Seattle, scored 20 points.

Baker, traded to Seattle on Sept. 25, scored 11 of his team’s first 17 points after receiving a rousing ovation during introductions. He also scored 15 points in the fourth quarter, his final basket coming on his trademark turnaround fadeaway from the baseline that pulled Seattle to within 91-89 with 52 seconds to play before the SuperSonics faded.

Detroit 93, Toronto 83--Jerome Williams scored 20 points and added 11 rebounds and four assists in a reserve role for the Pistons, whose substitutes contributed 36 points to a win at Toronto.

They had scored only three points in Detroit’s last game, against Seattle.

The victory ended Detroit’s four-game road losing streak and extended Toronto’s franchise-record losing streak to 16 games, including eight in a row at home.

Grant Hill scored 20 points and added 10 rebounds and five assists.

Philadelphia 93, New York 78--Allen Iverson scored 27 points and Jerry Stackhouse had 20 for the 76ers, who ended a three-game losing streak by winning at home.

Allan Houston had 25 points for the Knicks, who have lost three of their last four and four consecutive road games.

Patrick Ewing scored New York’s first six points but was held to four more the rest of the game. He played only six minutes after halftime and sat out the entire fourth quarter when New York fell behind by as many as 25 points.

After the Knicks took a 16-11 lead in the first quarter, Iverson scored nine points in an 18-4 run. New York never led again.

Sacramento 99, Golden State 84--Mitch Richmond scored 24 points and Corliss Williamson had 15 in the third quarter for the Kings, who won at Sacramento.

Williamson, held without a field goal in the first half, scored 10 points in a 1:57 span of the third quarter as the Kings broke a 45-45 tie and went ahead to stay. He made six of seven shots in the period and Sacramento went on to snap a six-game losing streak.

Joe Smith scored 24 points for Golden State.