Miller and Jackson Heed Bird’s Advice

Larry Bird summoned Reggie Miller and Mark Jackson to a meeting before Wednesday night’s game against the Detroit Pistons at Indianapolis.

They got the message.

Miller scored 25 points and made a key three-point shot with 26.4 seconds to play and Jackson had 16 points and 11 assists to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 100-93 victory.

“He took myself and Reggie in before the game and told us how important it was. I respect that, and I respect his confidence in me to go out and do the job,” said Jackson, who did his share as Indiana won for the sixth time in its last seven games.

“I think that Mark played fabulous. I called him in before the game and told him how important the game was. We haven’t been playing well these past four games,” Bird said.

Said Miller: “Mark and I are sort of the leaders on the team, so he wanted to have a chat with us.”

It wasn’t Miller’s offense that delighted Bird. It was his defense against Jerry Stackhouse, who had a season-high 33 points when the teams met Dec. 19. Stackhouse was held to six points and had seven turnovers.

“On the defensive end, Reggie was the star tonight,” Bird said. “He played great defense from beginning to end. He can play defense if he wants to.”

Indiana overcame a season-high 37 points by Grant Hill, who matched his career-high with 15 baskets and attempted a career-high 29 shots.

San Antonio 89, Washington 79--Rookie Tim Duncan had 28 points and 16 rebounds at Washington to help the Spurs snap a four-game losing streak to the Wizards.

The Spurs have won 15 of their past 17, largely on the strength of their defense. They have held 16 of their past 17 opponents under 90 points, including seven under 80.

They held the Wizards to 36% shooting, including a combined 21 for 51 from leading scorers Chris Webber and Juwan Howard.

Atlanta 108, Dallas 82--Steve Smith scored 29 points and Dikembe Mutombo added 21 points and 19 rebounds at Atlanta to lead the Hawks to their fifth consecutive victory.

During the streak, Smith has averaged 27.8 points a game. He made seven of nine three-point shots and was 10 of 15 overall.

It was the fourth straight loss for the Mavericks (6-31), who have lost 19 of 20 and are tied with Toronto for the second-worst record in the league.

Milwaukee 101, Golden State 95--Glenn Robinson scored 12 of his 31 points and Armon Gilliam had 10 of his 20 in the fourth quarter at Milwaukee as the Bucks handed the Warriors their eighth consecutive loss.

Sacramento 108, Orlando 96--Rookie Tariq Abdul-Wahad brought the Kings back from an 84-78 deficit in the fourth quarter as they won their sixth consecutive home game.