Pacers Beat Hornets, 91-84, on Fight Night

In a fight-marred matchup of two of the top teams in the Central Division, Jermaine O’Neal had 26 points, 16 rebounds and six blocks to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 91-84 home victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Saturday.

The Pacers never trailed in a game filled with hard fouls, tough defense and a shoving match between Indiana’s Al Harrington and New Orleans’ George Lynch that escalated into a fight, leading to the ejections of Harrington, Lynch and New Orleans center Jamaal Magloire.

The fight broke out with 9:15 to play when Harrington fouled Lynch near the Pacers’ bench. Lynch elbowed Harrington in the jaw and Harrington responded by shoving Lynch, then tackling him into the Pacers’ bench.

A melee ensued, with several Hornets and Pacers piling into the area.

Detroit 99, Golden State 93 -- Larry Brown wasn’t around for the end of his 900th career NBA coaching victory after being mistakenly ejected in the third quarter at Auburn Hills, Mich. An official mistakenly thought a referee had called two technical fouls on Brown, and he had the coach escorted from the court. After a discussion, it was announced that Brown could come back, but he didn’t.

Detroit set an NBA single-season record by holding their 34th consecutive opponent under 100 points, breaking the record of 33 set by the Knicks in 2000-01.

Boston 88, Chicago 77 -- Paul Pierce scored 14 of his 33 points for the Celtics in the fourth quarter and Mike James scored 12 consecutive Boston points in the final quarter. Boston overcame a nine-point second quarter and a 15-point deficit to post the victory at Chicago.

Jamal Crawford had 16 points for the Bulls, who made only one of 16 three-point shots.

Memphis 112, Orlando 103 -- The Grizzlies handed out 35 assists, a season high, on their home court, led by 10 from Jason Williams. Stromile Swift scored 14 points and grabbed a season-high 15 rebounds.

Tracy McGrady led Orlando with 34 points. Drew Gooden scored 16, and Tyronn Lue had 15 points and eight assists.

Houston 84, Utah 63 -- The Rockets played the best defensive game in their history in the home victory. Steve Francis had 17 points, Yao Ming added 16, Cuttino Mobley had 13 and Kelvin Cato added 11 points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots.

DeShawn Stevenson’s 11 points led the Jazz, who scored just seven points in the fourth quarter for their lowest point total of the season.

Dallas 119, Minnesota 112 -- Dirk Nowitzki equaled a season high with 31 points and Michael Finley scored 18 of his 24 in the second half to lead the Mavericks at home.

Nowitzki, Finley and Steve Nash combined for 14 points in a 19-4 run to start the fourth quarter as Dallas opened a 21-point lead.

Sam Cassell scored a season-high 34 points for the Timberwolves. Kevin Garnett scored 27 points and grabbed 22 rebounds, Gary Trent had a season-high 22 points and Latrell Sprewell added 21.

Atlanta 84, Denver 76 -- Stephen Jackson keyed a fourth-quarter run and scored a season-high 25 points to lead the Hawks at Denver. Jackson scored seven points in a 13-2 run that gave Atlanta an 84-76 lead.

The victory was only the third for the Hawks in 13 games.

Carmelo Anthony led Denver with 26 points. The Nuggets managed only eight points in the fourth quarter and lost for only the fifth time at home.