Hornets Surprise Pacers, 92-90

The Indiana Pacers didn’t lose by a point Saturday night, but they lost.

The Pacers, whose five previous losses were all by one point, were defeated by the Charlotte Hornets, 92-90, at Indianapolis.

“We didn’t come to play,” said Pacer Coach Larry Bird, whose team has lost consecutive home games for the first time since November 1997. “We looked slow, like an old team. We didn’t deserve to win.”

Bobby Phills scored 23 points, including a baseline jump shot with 38 seconds to play that put the Hornets ahead for good.

All five Hornet starters scored in double figures. Eddie Jones scored 17 points, David Wesley had 15 and Elden Campbell had 14 points and 16 rebounds. Chucky Brown had 10 points for the Hornets, who got only 13 points from their reserves.

“If we can win against a team like this on the road,” Phills said, “we’re going to do fine in the long run.”

The Pacers had a chance to win at the buzzer, but Mark Jackson’s three-point shot from the right side rattled off the rim.

Rik Smits led the Pacers with 22 points and Reggie Miller added 17. Jalen Rose had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Pacers, who lost Friday night to the Detroit Pistons, 102-101, on Lindsey Hunter’s three-point basket at the buzzer.

“Back-to-back home losses have left a sour taste in everyone’s mouth in this locker room,” Miller said. “We fought back to get in the game, but we couldn’t make the big plays, big shots, or come up with the big stops down the stretch.”

Phoenix 110, San Antonio 84--Rookie Pat Garrity, starting in place of injured Tom Gugliotta, scored a career-high 25 points and Rex Chapman broke out of a shooting slump with 18 points at Phoenix as the Suns ended the Spurs’ six-game winning streak.

With Gugliotta and Luc Longley sidelined because of injuries, the Suns got big games from five players who combined for 90 points.

Jason Kidd had 15 points (on seven-of-nine shooting) and 14 assists. Cliff Robinson scored 22 and reserve Danny Manning had 14 points and 13 rebounds as the Suns handed the Spurs only their third loss in 21 games.

San Antonio’s big front-line never made much difference. Tim Duncan scored 14 points in the first quarter but only seven the rest of the game. David Robinson was scoreless in the first half and finished with four points on one-for-nine shooting.

Sacramento 110, Denver 104--Vlade Divac had 21 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists for the Kings at Sacramento.

Chris Webber, who had 23 points and 11 rebounds, scored on a dunk to finish a 9-2 run and put the Kings ahead, 106-96, with 1:36 to play.

Chauncey Billups had a three-point play as the Nuggets ran off seven consecutive points to get within 106-103 with 33 seconds left. Two free throws by Predrag Stojakovic and one each by Jason Williams and Jon Barry helped the Kings maintain the lead.

Nick Van Exel had 29 points and nine assists for Denver, which is 1-18 on the road.

Golden State 91, Dallas 90--Terry Cummings scored 12 points in the fourth quarter and Jason Caffey had a steal and layup with 32.6 seconds to play at Dallas as the Warriors ended a three-game losing streak.

Gary Trent had a career-high 33 points for the Mavericks, who have lost eight of their last nine.

Cleveland 81, Atlanta 67--Shawn Kemp had 24 points and 12 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who limited the Hawks to 29% shooting at Cleveland.

Cleveland ended a two-game losing streak and handed Atlanta its third consecutive loss.

The 67 points tied a season low for the Hawks, who struggled without leading scorer Steve Smith, who sat out his sixth consecutive game because of a sprained left knee.

Alan Henderson scored 18 points for the Hawks, who made only 20% of their shots in the first quarter and fell behind, 24-8. The eight points were a franchise low for the first quarter.

Ed Gray was the only other Atlanta player in double figures with 11 points.

Wesley Person scored 14 points for Cleveland. Brevin Knight had 12 points and 13 assists.

Hawk guard Anthony Johnson was ejected 52 seconds into the second quarter after elbowing the Cavaliers’ Bob Sura in the face.