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Friday, Dec. 8 7:30pm ET
Pacers use 18-3 run to bury Boston

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

BOSTON (AP) -- Travis Best made sure his Indiana Pacers didn't squander another big lead, not in front of his family and friends.

Jalen Rose
Indiana guard Jalen Rose scored 25 points to help the Pacers defeat the Celtics on Friday.

Best, from Springfield, Mass., left 27 tickets and scored 27 points as Indiana broke open a tied game late in the third quarter and beat the Boston Celtics 104-91 Friday night.

Three days earlier, Best had just 11 points and four assists and fouled out as the Pacers wasted a nine-point lead after three quarters and lost to Charlotte 91-88.

"Winning here is definitely special," said Best, who became the starting point guard when Mark Jackson signed with Toronto after last season. "It's nice to be able to put on a great show and get a win."

Best, who just missed his season-high of 30 points, played 46 of the 48 minutes and led the Pacers with 10 assists. He shot 11-of-15.

"I wanted to give him a lot of minutes tonight, knowing he was at home," Indiana coach Isiah Thomas said. "He played exceptionally well."

So did Jalen Rose, who had 27 points, and Austin Croshere, who had 16 points and 10 rebounds. But Reggie Miller didn't score in the second half and finished with 10. He still enjoyed Indiana's second win in its last seven road games and its first since beating Vancouver a week earlier.

"That one didn't really count," Miller said. "I wanted to win one in America."

The Celtics, 1-6 on the road, wanted desperately to open their four-game homestand with a win.

They trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half, but tied it at 72 with 1:26 left in the third quarter as Paul Pierce, who led them with 29 points, scored seven straight.

But the Pacers scored 18 of the next 21 and took a 90-75 lead on Derrick McKey's basket with 5:22 remaining.

"If we can win out the next three we can get to .500 and go to Charlotte" next Saturday, said Antoine Walker. "So there's a sense of urgency."

Walker had the fifth triple-double of his career with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists. But he was scoreless from midway through the third quarter until he hit a 3-pointer with 34 seconds left.

Pierce and Bryant Stith, who had 25 points, scored 28 of Boston's last 32 points.

"You look at Indiana's record, 8-10, and we felt we could come in at home and dominate," said Stith, whose team also started the night 8-10. "It was frustrating. It was a very important game for us."

After tying the game, the Celtics never led as their defense let down.

"I thought they ran out of gas," Thomas said.

The Pacers scored the last six points of the third quarter on a dunk and a layup by Jeff Foster and a dunk by Croshere.

That began the 18-3 surge that gave Indiana a 15-point lead. The closest Boston came after that was 92-83 with four minutes to go.

The Pacers went on a 14-1 run to take a 51-34 lead with 3:12 left in the first half. Rose had seven of the points.

The Celtics, trailing 57-42 at halftime, closed the deficit to 65-59 on Walker's 3-pointer with 6:56 left in the third quarter. Stith had 10 of Boston's points in the 17-8 run.

Game notes
Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra watched from a front-row seat. One fan yelled to him, "Call Manny," a reference to Boston's pursuit of free agent outfielder Manny Ramirez. ... Milt Palacio, signed this week after playing with Vancouver last season, made his Celtics debut with 1:25 left in the first quarter. He's the sixth player to handle the team's injury-plagued point guard spot, following Kenny Anderson, Randy Brown, Chris Herren, Rick Brunson and Doug Overton. ... Miller extended his streak to 36 successful free throws by making all four attempts. ... Indiana outscored Boston in the lane, 50-34.
ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard

Indiana Clubhouse

Boston Clubhouse


RECAPS
Indiana 104
Boston 91

Charlotte 92
LA Clippers 87

Miami 80
Atlanta 76

New Jersey 86
Phoenix 84

Dallas 105
Chicago 86

Philadelphia 107
Portland 94

Toronto 108
Golden State 92

Seattle 103
LA Lakers 95

Sacramento 111
Houston 98

FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT

Antoine Walker Official Site

Reggie Miller Official Site


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