Reggie Sparks Pacers To 85-78 Victory Over Hawks.

[Pooh]

By Johnnie Clay - Pacers Insider
January 14, 2004 - 9:45 PM

The Indiana Pacers for three quarters tonight, looked like a team that was still in a funk over their devastating loss to the San Antonio Spurs this past weekend, and appeared to be the second team in two nights to fall to the Atlanta Hawks, who just 24 hours ago, defeated the Spurs in Atlanta.

But in the fourth quarter, an old familar face came in to save the day. Reggie Miller ignited to score all 13 of his points in the final 6 minutes, rallying the Pacers from a five-point fourth-quarter deficit to an 85-78 victory the Atlanta Hawks before 14,735 in Conseco Fieldhouse on Wednesday night.

The Pacers needed every bit of Miller's 13 points, as the Pacers shot a season low 34% (24-71).

The game was deadlocked at 19-19 at the end of the first quarter, as turnovers dominated the contest. The Pacers committed 18 turnovers to the Hawks 17. Yet, the Pacers went into halftime up by two, 39-37.

It appeared as if the Pacers were already looking past this game and more towards the weekend, where they'll be facing the Spurs once again on Friday and the Nets on Saturday night. But Jermaine O'Neal said that wasn't the case.

"No, we were not looking past Atlanta, we just knew that they would be hard to handle." O'Neal said. "We didn’t play well the first half and stepped it up some in the second half and got the W."
After the Pacers built a 56-45 lead late in the third quarter, the Hawks took over for the next nine minutes, putting together a strong 20-4 run to take a 65-60 lead with 7:11 remaining.

The Pacers, who missed 10 of 11 shots and committed five turnovers in that span, turned to Miller, who hit consecutive 3-pointers to give them a 68-65 lead. Atlanta rallied briefly to take a 74-73 lead on Shareef Abdur-Rahim's jumper with 3:05 remaining, but that would be the Hawks' last meaningful basket as the Pacers finished the game with a 12-4 run.

The Pacers improved to 3-0 against the Hawks this season and 15-4 at home. The Hawks dropped to 11-29 overall, 5-19 on the road. The two teams will meet again this coming Monday on Martin Luther King day in Atlanta.

Pacers Coach Rick Carlisle discussed his teams' performance against the Hawks.

“It was a tough game and we thought it would be a tough game. Atlanta is playing better now." Carlisle said. "Sometimes three days off can get to you. I thought maybe the three days had us off our rhythm offensively. We hit big shots. Reggie Miller hit some big threes, Jermaine came through down the stretch and Ron Artest played a solid game. The thing I love about the way Ron is playing is he’s more disciplined and patient offensively. That’s why right now he’s an All-Star. He’s playing at that level."

Carlisle also talked about Millers' performance in the fourth quarter.

"Unfortunately I think a lot of us take Reggie for granted because he’s done it so many times." Carlisle said. "To play at this level at 38 years of age is nothing less than remarkable. He needs to be as involved as we can get him involved. What our guys have to understand is Reggie draws so much attention the other guys have to be ready to shoot the ball.”

Tonight's game marked the return of Jonathan Bender to the Pacers lineup. Bender, who hasn't played all season, scored just 2 points and 5 rebounds in limited action.

"I just wanted to attack when I got in there and just wanted to take it to them." Bender said on his first performance this season. "While I was out I tried to keep strong. It’s going to take me a few games to get back into the groove. I missed a couple of shots. I had good looks, they just didn’t fall. But I think it will come back to me. "

Jermaine O'Neal led the Pacers with 26 points and 16 rebounds. Ron Artest had 23 points, 7 rebounds, 5 steals and 4 assists. Miller scored all 13 of his points in the final 6 minutes. Jamaal Tinsley had 10 points, 6 assists and 6 steals. Jeff Foster had 13 rebounds but missed five of six free throws. The Pacers compensated their poor shooting by dominating the boards, 51-38 and outshooting the Hawks 33-13 from the free-throw line.

After one more day off, the Pacers open a stretch of four games in five nights on Friday night at home against San Antonio, a game that offers a quick chance for payback. The Pacers just lost a heart-breaking 89-88 game in San Antonio on Saturday night. The Spurs have won three in a row in Indianapolis, something the Pacers and their fans hope comes to an abrupt in this Friday night.

Game Time Friday night is at 7pm (EST)

[pacersrule03]

That's what I like to see out of Reggie 2 . It's great to see that Reggie still has it in him to single handedly take over a game. :next3 up