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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
MIAMI (AP) – Anthony Mason had the final word against the
trash-talking Indiana Pacers.
|  | | Heat All-Star forward Anthony Mason had a season-high 29 points Tuesday. |
Mason, an All-Star for the first time at age 34, scored a
season-high 29 points in his final game before the break Tuesday
night, and the Miami Heat beat Indiana 102-89.
The game ended with Miami's Tim Hardaway and Indiana's Reggie
Miller shouting taunts at each other as the clock ran out. Both
players were restrained by teammates.
Mason didn't talk much trash; he was too busy justifying his
selection as an All-Star. He dominated inside, hitting 11 of 20
shots and grabbing eight rebounds.
"When you're selected for the All-Star team, you don't want
people to sit around saying, 'How did he become an All-Star?' "
Mason said. "You want to show you deserve it."
Mason finished just two points shy of his career high of 31 for
Charlotte against Toronto last season.
"If you notice, the last four or five possessions I threw the
ball back out" rather than shooting, he said. "You don't want
people to think you're chasing individual goals. It's about
winning."
The Pacers aren't doing much of that. They head into the
All-Star break with losses in six of seven games, and they're
clearly frustrated.
"I heard Miller and Jalen Rose talking trash the last six or
seven minutes of the game," Heat coach Pat Riley said with a
chuckle. "I don't like it, but that's what they do. It's
ridiculous."
Riley quoted Rose as saying to Miami's Dan Majerle: "You never
won anything, even in high school."
With the final seconds ticking off the clock and Miller on the
bench, he and Hardaway began shouting at each other.
"Boys just being boys," Miller said.
"They just talk, talk, talk, talk, talk," Hardaway said.
"That's part of their game. Let me do it for my team. I can do it
better than anybody else in this locker room."
Brian Grant scored 19 points and Eddie Jones 15 for the Heat.
But it was Mason who sparked an offense that reached 100 points for
the fifth time in eight games.
In five games since being selected to the All-Star team, Mason
has averaged 17.4 points and 11.8 rebounds. He called it the best
stretch of his 12-year NBA career.
"He's playing like Michael Jordan is in his body," Jones said.
Al Harrington, making only his fifth start this season for
Indiana, scored a career-high 20 points. Miller, who has been
slowed by back spasms, played 41 minutes but had just nine points.
The score was 58-all early in the third period when Miami pulled
away. Rose and Miller were whistled for technical fouls 31 seconds
apart during a 13-3 spurt by the Heat for a 71-61 lead.
"We haven't been getting calls all year, so there's no use
fussing about that," Miller said.
Miami sank 10 of its final 11 shots in the third quarter,
including a pair of 3-pointers by Hardaway, to make it 84-70.
Majerle defused the Pacers' comeback bid by converting a
3-pointer with 1:42 left for a 98-87 lead. The Heat took the season
series 2-1.
Game notes
Riley said Heat swingman Bruce Bowen ranks among the five
best perimeter defenders in the league. ... Miller was 0-for-9 on
3-pointers against Miami this year before he sank one in the third
quarter. ... VIPs in the crowd included Orlando and Livan
Hernandez, Ivan Rodriguez, Preston Wilson and Pavel Bure.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Indiana Clubhouse
Miami Clubhouse
RECAPS
Orlando 109
Charlotte 83
Detroit 94
Denver 83
New Jersey 90
Atlanta 84
Miami 102
Indiana 89
Milwaukee 112
Sacramento 109
Phoenix 97
Chicago 80
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Tim Hardaway dishes to Brian Grant for a Miami dunk.
avi: 511 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Reggie Miller Official Site
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