Artest Struggles in Return to Indiana

Ron Artest had never heard an Indiana crowd boo so loudly.

He couldn’t even recall the hated Detroit Pistons getting as rude a reception as he received from Pacer fans on Friday night.

In the end, Pacer fans were cheering. Artest shot poorly in his return to Indiana as the Pacers beat the Sacramento Kings, 98-93.

Artest was playing in Indianapolis for the first time since his trade request was granted and he was sent to the Kings for Peja Stojakovic seven weeks ago. Artest scored 18 points, but made only six of 22 shots, including two for 14 in the second half.

He was booed during pregame introductions, and that continued every time he touched the ball.

“If there was a fight between the fans who loved me or booed me, I think the boos would have won,” Artest said.

The fans saved their loudest cheers for Stojakovic, who had 20 points and 12 rebounds to help the Pacers end the Kings’ five-game win streak.

The crowd reaction didn’t bother Artest, but his shooting did.

“I missed a lot of layups,” he said. “I was right there at the bucket, and I missed layups. So that was pretty much it. I missed a ton of layups.”

New York 105, Detroit 103 -- Jamal Crawford scored 15 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, including the tiebreaking jump shot with 2.2 seconds left, and the Knicks rallied to beat the Pistons at New York.

Eddy Curry had 16 points and 11 rebounds and Steve Francis scored 15 points for the Knicks, who were decked out in green for the first time ever to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

Chauncey Billups scored 24 points for the Pistons, who lost All-Stars Rasheed Wallace and Richard Hamilton to ejections in the third quarter.

Dallas 104, Washington 94 -- Jason Terry and Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points apiece, and the Mavericks pulled away at Washington.

Jerry Stackhouse, booed every time he touched the ball by Wizard fans disenchanted with his two seasons in Washington, had 17 points for Dallas.

Orlando 84, Boston 77 -- Dwight Howard had 18 points, 13 rebounds and six blocked shots to help the Magic win at Orlando, Fla.

It was a rare comeback win for Orlando, which won for only the second time in 37 games this season after trailing going into the fourth quarter.

Toronto 97, Milwaukee 96 -- Chris Bosh had 27 points and 10 rebounds, and the Raptors rallied from a 16-point deficit to win at Toronto.

The Bucks led 94-78 with 5:41 left, before Toronto finished the game on a 19-2 run -- capped by Bosh’s two free throws with 3.4 seconds left.

San Antonio 108, Phoenix 102 -- Nazr Mohammed matched a career high with 30 points and had 16 rebounds to lead the Spurs at San Antonio.

Steve Nash scored 30 points to lead Phoenix.

Utah 111, Atlanta 101 -- Deron Williams scored 28 points at Atlanta as the Jazz ended a three-game losing streak and handed the Hawks their fourth straight loss.

Memphis 116, Denver 102 -- Mike Miller matched a franchise record with 41 points to lead the Grizzlies at Memphis, Tenn., as they ended a six-game losing streak to the Nuggets.

Cleveland 99, Portland 84 -- LeBron James scored 27 points to lead the Cavaliers at Cleveland over the Trail Blazers, who suffered their ninth consecutive road loss.