RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) The Charlotte Hornets made up for woeful
shooting with their offensive rebounding.
| | The Hornets' Baron Davis gets clubbed by Austin Croshere while driving to the basket in the first quarter. | Jamal Mashburn had 24 points and 11 rebounds as the Charlotte
Hornets won their fourth straight game, 82-72 over the Indiana
Pacers on Monday night.
The Hornets shot just 35 percent, but took a 20-11 edge on the
offensive glass. That allowed Charlotte to get 13 more shot
attempts.
"It was ugly," Hornets forward P.J. Brown said. "I guess when
you play 82 games in a year you're going to have games like that.
But as long as you come out on top, that's all that matters."
The Pacers shot 34 percent for the game and saw their four-game
winning streak end.
David Wesley added 13 points and Elden Campbell had 11 points
and nine rebounds for Charlotte.
"We never let them get a rhythm and I think that's why they
missed a lot of shots," Wesley said. "We never seemed to get in a
rhythm ourselves, though."
Jalen Rose had 26 points and Reggie Miller added 24 for Indiana.
Pacers coach Isiah Thomas was upset with the Hornets' 55-43
rebounding advantage.
"It came down to rebounding," Thomas said. "It's unfortunate
because we play defense as good as anybody. The guys work hard
defensively, but can't come up with rebounds of misses. Had we had
13 more shots, we could have won the game."
Jermaine O'Neal was the only consistent rebounder for Indiana,
finishing with 16 boards to go with 11 points.
The Pacers cut a once 15-point Hornets lead to four on Rose's
runner midway through the fourth quarter. But the Hornets responded
with an 8-0 run that included two Mashburn 3-pointers to make it
71-59 with 4:20 left.
"It wasn't going early and I was trying to get my teammates
involved," Mashburn said. "I know I can score at any particular
time. It's just a matter of if the ball goes in or not."
Mashburn scored 14 points in the fourth quarter.
"Whenever we need it, Mash comes up big," Hornets coach Paul
Silas said.
Indiana played the game without starting forward Al Harrington,
who sprained his right ankle in Sunday's win against the
Timberwolves. Jonathan Bender started in his place, but did not
score in only eight minutes.
One game after hitting 14 3-pointers and scoring 110 points in a
win against Minnesota, Indiana shot just 6-for-18 from beyond the
3-point arc.
The Pacers jumped to a 10-2 lead, but the Hornets fought
back to lead 15-11 after the first quarter. Indiana would never
lead again.
"We missed a lot of opportunities and couldn't hit the shots
when we needed to," Pacers guard Travis Best said.
Game notes At the same time the game was going on, the Charlotte City
Council was conducting a public hearing on whether to spend public
money for a new arena for the Hornets. At halftime co-owner Ray
Wooldridge said he will not file with the NBA for relocation by
Thursday's deadline, saying he's confident a deal can be reached
soon. ... It was the final meeting between the teams this season,
with Charlotte winning three of four games.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Indiana Clubhouse
Charlotte Clubhouse
RECAPS
Boston 85 Seattle 82
Charlotte 82 Indiana 72
Milwaukee 98 Philadelphia 91
Golden State 84 Chicago 78
Portland 95 Houston 89
Orlando 93 Denver 86
Utah 99 Atlanta 82
Dallas 103 LA Clippers 92
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