Pacers’ Magic Touch Rules in Showdown

Indiana leads the league in free-throw shooting, and it made the difference Wednesday night in a matchup of the two top teams in the East.

Reggie Miller made all 12 of his free throws and finished with 21 points at Indianapolis as Indiana defeated Orlando, 83-80, ending the Magic’s winning streak at six games.

Indiana shot 24 of 26 from the line to Orlando’s 11 of 20.

“They got to the foul line and that made the difference,” said Penny Hardaway, who led Orlando with 25 points. “It was a great game for both teams. . . . This was a measuring stick.”

Said Miller, whose team trails the Magic by two games in the battle for home-court advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs: “The magnitude of the game was very large. “We put ourselves into the situation to win by coming up with big stops . . . and overall great defense.”

Dale Davis had 12 points and a season-high 16 rebounds for the Pacers.

Phoenix 101, Seattle 94--The SuperSonics set an NBA record by getting only 19 rebounds in a loss to the Suns at Seattle.

Jason Kidd scored a season-high 30 points for Phoenix, which overtook the SuperSonics and moved into seventh place in the Western Conference standings.

The previous NBA record for fewest rebounds was 20, set three times--most recently by the SuperSonics on March 6, 1998 at Charlotte.

Washington 95, New York 89--Tracy Murray made a 22-footer with 1:04 left in overtime to break the last tie at Washington as the Wizards ended the Knicks’ winning streak at three games.

Otis Thorpe and Rod Strickland scored 18 points each for the Wizards.

Marcus Camby came off the bench to lead the Knicks with 18 points and 13 rebounds. The Knicks were without center Patrick Ewing (tendinitis).

Milwaukee 98, Miami 86--Ray Allen scored a season-high 31 points and Glenn Robinson had 29 at Milwaukee as the Bucks finally beat an elite Eastern Conference team.

The Bucks, fourth in the East, began the night 0-6 against the conference’s top teams: Orlando, Miami and Indiana.

Alonzo Mourning led the Heat with 30 points.

Houston 102, Vancouver 85--Hakeem Olajuwon had 27 points and became the eighth player in NBA history to score 10,000 field goals as the Rockets handed the Grizzlies their 17th consecutive road loss.

Philadelphia 93, Toronto 78--Allen Iverson scored 20 points as the 76ers used a 29-8 run in the second half at Philadelphia to hand the Raptors their fifth consecutive loss and end their two-game losing streak.

Cleveland 89, Chicago 81--Shawn Kemp had 27 points and seven rebounds in the Cavaliers’ victory at Chicago.

The Bulls lost Ron Harper to a broken nose after he was elbowed by Kemp.

Denver 120, New Jersey 97--Antonio McDyess scored 36 points and the Nuggets made 10 of 14 three-point shots in routing the Nets at Denver.

San Antonio 95, Minnesota 79--David Robinson had 21 points and 15 rebounds and the Spurs took advantage of Kevin Garnett’s absence to defeat the roll at San Antonio.

Garnett has flu.

Atlanta 77, Boston 70--Dikembe Mutombo scored 16 points and grabbed 17 rebounds and Chris Crawford added 17 points at Boston as the Hawks ended a four-game losing streak.

Charlotte 83, Detroit 79--Bobby Phills and Eddie Jones scored 21 points as the Hornets blew a 17-point lead before defeating the Pistons at Charlotte, N.C.

NBA Notes

Charlotte center Derrick Coleman was arrested late Tuesday at a night club in his hometown of Detroit and charged with interfering with a police officer’s duty. It was not immediately clear what Coleman was accused of doing. Police said he was released on a $100 bond on the misdemeanor charge. The Hornets said the incident apparently stemmed from the arrest of one of Coleman’s friends. . . . The Portland Trail Blazers put forward Carlos Rogers on the injured list because of tendinitis in his right knee. Portland activated forward-center Jermaine O’Neal, who has been sidelined because of a bone spur in his left ankle. . . . Cleveland put guard Derek Anderson on the injured list because of a leg injury and activated forward Ryan Stack.