RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
CLEVELAND (AP) _ Jermaine O'Neal scored six of his 30 points in
overtime and had a career-high 20 rebounds Wednesday night as
Indiana warmed up for the playoffs with a 105-101 win over
Cleveland. It might have been Randy Wittman's final game as Cavaliers
coach. Despite winning four of their last six, the Cavs may not
have done enough to save Wittman's job. The second-year coach,
under fire since the All-Star break, is just 62-102 in his two
seasons in Cleveland. Jalen Rose added 22 points and a career-high 20 assists for the
Pacers, who finished the regular season 41-41 and will face Eastern
Conference champion Philadelphia in the best-of-five first round of
the playoffs. Reggie Miller, who sat out the entire fourth quarter and most of
OT, finished with 22 points. Indiana rested many of its starters in
the second half in preparation for the playoffs. Lamond Murray had 22 points, Andre Miller 19 and 11 assists and
rookie Chris Mihm had 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Cavs, who
ended the year 30-52 _ two games worse than last season. The Cavs got off to a promising start and were 15-7 on Dec. 16
after beatting Utah. But two games later, center Zydrunas Ilgauskas
was lost for the season after breaking his foot, and the Cavs went
through a stretch where they lost 43 of 54 games. Before the game, Wittman said he wanted to find out soon if he
was in the Cavs' future. How soon? "Yesterday," said Wittman, who has one year left on a
three-year contract. "It's going to be a situation where I need to
know. I need to look at what I'm going to be doing and start
planning for next year." Cavs general manager Jim Paxson declined comment on Wittman's
situation at halftime. After Rose's 3-pointer gave the Pacers a 100-99 lead early in
OT, O'Neal scored on a nice spin move in the lane, then dunked to
put Indiana ahead 104-101 with 1:01 left. Andre Miller missed on the Cavs' next trip and O'Neal grabbed
the rebound. Rose then made one of two free throws with 17.1
seconds to go to seal it. The Pacers had a final chance to win in regulation, but Tyus
Edney missed a wild, driving layup in traffic just before the
buzzer and the teams went to overtime tied at 95. Rose had nine points and seven assists in the third quarter,
when the Pacers overcame a five-point halftime deficit to open a
78-73 lead after three. Rose's 15-foot jumper capped a 12-2 run early in the quarter and
he later hit a 3-pointer before threading a pass across the lane to
Al Harrington for his 18th assist to put Indiana up by five. Notes: Cleveland's 31 wins are its fewest in a full regular season
since 1985-86, when the Cavs won 29. ... Best stayed behind in
Indiana to rest his strained lower back. Best got hurt during
Tuesday night's loss to Philadelphia. He is expected to be ready
for the playoffs. ... Pacers coach Isiah Thomas said he sympathizes
with Wittman's situation. "The one thing in this league you can't
control as a coach are injuries," he said. "Big guys like
Ilgauskas just aren't laying around."
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