By Johnnie Clay - Pacers Insider.
March 24, 2004 - 11:45 PM.
Tonights' contest was a battle of composure and who had it in them to keep it. The winner in that catagory and the game was the Indiana Pacers, keepers of the NBA's best record as they rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat the Dallas Mavericks 103-99 at Conseco Fieldhouse tonight. All of this was done without the Pacers' leader Jermaine O'Neal, who missed tonights' game as well as the next with a bone bruise in his left knee.
The Pacers sure could've used their All-Star power-foward, as they came out lethargic and confused, shooting just 40% percent in the first half. Their slim two-point lead at the end of the first quarter was quickly turned into a two-point deficit as a poor inbound pass allowed the Mavs to put up a buzzer beating shot, ending the quarter with the Mavs on top of the s shocked Pacers 30-28.
As the second quarter began, the Mavericks starting hitting wide open shots. The inept Pacers defense allowed the Mavericks to easily drive up the middle for layups. Then the play became physical and messy as four individual technical fouls were called. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle and Jamaal Tinsley were two of the recipiants, while Mavs assistant coach Del Harris and Dirk Nowitzki recieved the other two. After all of the messy play, the Pacers were very fortunately to only be down five points, 55-48 at halftime.
"Tonight we got into their game and had some horrendous errors." Rick Carlisle said. "Dallas is a team that makes you pay. At halftime we weren’t happy with our effort. It was a gut-check for our team."
In the third quarter, the Mavs started to unravel as Scott Williams picked up two technical fouls and was ejected from the game. Then Shawn Bradley recieved a technical and a flagrant foul for throwing an elbow at the face of Jamaal TInsley. TInsley also was hit with a flagrant for tripping Bradley.
Even with the massive barrage of fouls, the Mavs still had the lead, 68-65. The Pacers started to gain their composure with a 14-3 run, taking the lead away for good and pushing it up to eight points, (79-71) late in the period. Once again, the Mavs closed the period with a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Antoine Walker, setting the stage for a dramatic final quarter.
The Mavs' used Walker's three-pointer as a spring board, cutting the Pacers lead to just one point, 81-80. Then Austin Croshere stepped to the front, hitting a clutch three-point that started a 14-6 Pacers run. Reggie Miler's long range three-pointer gave the Pacers an 95-86 lead with 2:50 remaining. The game appeared all but sealed for the Pacers until the Mavs went on a late run, ending with Dirk Nowtizki's basket with 45 seconds left, closing the lead down to just two points, 97-95. Then Reggie Miller decided to end things once in for all with a back-breaking three-pointer with 23 seconds left. The Pacers went to the line after that, to ice the game.
The Pacers won the season series from Dallas for the first time since the 1995-96 season and won their second in a row overall to improve to 52-19, 28-7 at home and a franchise record-tying 20-8 against Western Conference teams. Their magic number for clinching the top spot in the Eastern Conference is four.
Afterwards, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle talked about his teams' ability to keep their composure.
“That was a topsy-turvy game. When you play Dallas you have to deal with a lot of different things." Carlisle said. "The first half we were sluggish, the second half we were really great. At halftime we talked about the last time in Dallas. We were down 11-0 but we kept fighting and stayed persistent. In the second half we played with some force and got our fans into it and that was a huge factor. Austin Croshere made huge plays for us and played center for us most of the second half. Reggie hit some big shots and I thought Al battled all night long against their big people. The three was huge tonight, we hit nine of them. It’s a big win for our team.”
For the night, the Pacers shot 42% (35-84) and 73% (24-33) from the free-throw line. Ron Artest led the Pacers tonight with 20 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Al Harrington filled in well for the ailing O'Neal tonight with 17 points and 8 rebounds. Center Jeff Foster had another double-double, scoring 12 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. Reggie Miller had 16 points as his 2 huge three-pointers and perfect shooting from the free-throw line was one of the main reasons for tonights' victory. Jamaal Tinsely rounded out the starting lineup with 10 points and 6 assists.
Austin Croshere led the Pacers' bench tonight with 16 points and 6 rebounds. Fred Jones contributed with 4 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, one of his two points, a dramatic slam dunk brought the crowd to its' feet.
The Pacers now enjoy a well deserved night off before heading to Orlando. The Pacers will try to win the season series from the Magic for the third year in a row Friday night. Indiana has won two of three meetings this season, 89-78 on November 24th and 114-107 on January 6th. In that game, Tracy McGrady scored 43 points against the Pacers. The Magic defeated the Pacers, 94-90 on December 17th. O'Neal's absence will be felt acutely, as he has averaged 23.7 points and 15.0 rebounds against Orlando this season.
Gametime Friday night is at 7pm (EST).
looks like the ap recap i read with some quotes spliced in-tween.
can you steal quotes without acknowledging the sources?
because you didn't get them first hand, right?
do you ever cite any references in any of your articles?
who dubbed you a "pacers insider?"
The only thing I didn't write was the quotes from the players and coaches, I get those from the official site. You don't have to read it either.
You didn't answer her "Pacer Insider" question. That is no way to treat a lady, Pooh.
oh no pooh, i could never stop reading your articles.
i love knowing that i'm the only one who reads them.
ouch.
actually that is not true, whomever pulls up the AP online reads them.
Bite me...I don't go to AP online...I follow the game via Yahoo's boxscore then after the quotes are posted I put together my article. Happy now?
I stand corrected. Everyone who reads Yahoo Sports reads his articles. You still didn't answer her question.
I dubbed myself San Antonio's official pacers insider cause I follow them here in SA. Hence the name...end of story.
see....was that so bad? nothing wrong with answering an honest question.
next question, why did you ask to have jamison brewer under your name?
I have no answer on that...you'd have to ask Kori.
I like the articles Pooh writes. I don't know why some of you guys just grow up and leave it alone. He has tons of passion and pride for his team and does what he loves. Mocking him for "Pacers Insider" or for taking quotes from pacers.com is dumb, and probably sour grapes. You guys wish you'd write as good as Pooh does and have as much knowledge as he does.
On a side note, i am also wondering why you got jamison brewer under you're name. hehehe
by knowledge, I am assuming you mean of the Pacers. Of this, you are correct. As far as writing, goes, I guess you have never seen the front page of this website. Nobody questions his passion for the Pacers. Though he has been fairweather, I know he is a huge fan. Besides, don't people have the right to ask questions? If you are going to put your work in the public eye, you should expect feedback.
I'm not gonna argue who's the better writier because i could careless and i got better things to waste my time on. Although, i do know that Pooh is a heck of a writier.
What i don't get is, you said he has passion and said he's a huge fan... so how can he be fairweather????
What i'm just trying to say is, just grow up. If you don't like his work, then don't read it. Simple as that.
fairweather? ok how is this....he was a Spurs fan until David Robinson's rookie year, after the Spurs lost in the playoffs, he switched to being a Pacer fan because he was "tired of the Spurs choking every year" the Spurs were really bad from 83-89, much like the Pacers, but I am sure you did not give up on Indy. I love the way you are attacking me as if I was the one who said something about his writing. I never said Pooh was a bad writer. I did not even pose the questions to him but you are taking shots at just me....I think you are the one who should grow up. All I am saying is that if you post public work, you open yourself up to questions about that work.
But you have to remember Mikey, I was a fan before the years 83-89, when choking in the playoffs was as common as death and taxes. That's why I had enough.
so was I. my point is that a true fan can never have enough. With the exception of the 99-00 season, the Pacers, like the Spurs before '99, always fell short of the le. What is the difference?
mikey, how long have you been a spurs fan/watched the spurs?
since my first Spurs game, in 1974.
4
how old were you?
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