Pacers Enjoy Sacramento

When the Sacramento Kings stumbled to one of their worst performances in an outstanding season, the visiting Indiana Pacers happily took advantage.

Jermaine O’Neal had 29 points and 11 rebounds as the Pacers shook off Reggie Miller’s suspension Sunday to win in the NBA’s toughest road arena, 97-86.

Though the Pacers earned the victory with a strong fourth-quarter rally and outstanding defense on Chris Webber and his teammates, O’Neal and Coach Isiah Thomas both declined the credit for their fifth consecutive victory over Sacramento, which had its worst shooting game of the season.

“We just seem to catch them at the right time,” Thomas said. “When you’re 29-2 at home, the odds start working in the visitors’ favor. I feel bad for the next team that comes in here.”

Austin Croshere scored 19 points in a reserve role as Indiana surprised the NBA-leading Kings without Miller, who served the first game of his two-game suspension for fighting with the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant.

The Pacers responded with one of their best defensive games, holding Sacramento under 35% shooting for the first time this season.

The Kings made only 19 of 33 free throws, also their worst percentage of the season.

“All the other stuff aside, we make free throws, we win the game,” Scot Pollard said.

The Pacers broke the game open with a 21-7 run during an eight-minute span of the fourth quarter.

Webber scored 13 points on two-for-16 shooting.

Mike Bibby had 19 points for the Kings.

Dallas 116, Denver 110--Michael Finley scored seven of his 30 points in overtime, and Nick Van Exel added 20 points amid a constant chorus of boos in his return to Denver as the Mavericks beat the Nuggets.

Raef LaFrentz, also traded with Van Exel, heard some boos when introduced. He finished with eight points and three rebounds.

Juwan Howard, sent to the Nuggets in the Van Exel trade, led Denver with 30 points and 10 rebounds.

Washington 107, Orlando 102--Courtney Alexander scored a season-high 32 points as the Wizards, missing Michael Jordan and second-leading scorer Richard Hamilton, broke a seven-game losing streak by beating the Magic in overtime at Washington.

The Wizards had been 0-4 without Jordan, on the injured list following knee surgery. In addition, Hamilton missed the game because of a virus that sent him to the emergency room suffering from dehydration.

Tracy McGrady, who missed his first 10 shots, recovered to score 30 points for the Magic.

San Antonio 99, New York 83--David Robinson moved within 12 points of 20,000 for his career, and Tim Duncan had 25 points for the Spurs at New York. Robinson had 13 points and 15 rebounds.

New Jersey 92, Chicago 84--Jason Collins had 17 points and matched a career high with 12 rebounds, and Lucious Harris scored 16 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Nets at East Rutherford, N.J.

Kenyon Martin picked up a flagrant foul in the third quarter, when he tried to run through a pick set by rookie Eddy Curry. The flagrant foul was Martin’s sixth of the season, which will result in a one-game suspension. He will miss Tuesday’s game against the Lakers.

Jalen Rose led the Bulls with 27 points.

Detroit 83, Charlotte 81--Jerry Stackhouse scored on a driving layup with 3.7 seconds left--only the Pistons’ third basket of the fourth quarter--to lead a victory at Charlotte, N.C.

Stackhouse had a game-high 28 points. Elden Campbell led Charlotte with 23 points.

Milwaukee 101, Cleveland 91--Glenn Robinson scored 28 points and Ray Allen had 27 at Cleveland as the Bucks got a rare victory without Sam Cassell.

The Bucks had been 1-6 this season without Cassell, the team’s third-leading scorer who sat out because of a sprained left toe.

Seattle 96, Memphis 71--Gary Payton had 20 points and 13 assists, leading six SuperSonics in double-figure scoring at Memphis, Tenn.