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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The Portland Trail Blazers have been close
to this kind of loss for some time. And the Indiana Pacers were in
just the mood to give it to them.
"We are not tough right now," said Brian Grant, the only
Blazers player who showed any grit in Monday night's 93-91 loss to
Indiana. "We have got to get tough; we have no scrap. Lately we
have been struggling, the last four or five games. Just getting by
..."
|  | | Reggie Miller, who intercepted a last-second pass to seal Indiana's win, shoots over Damon Stoudamire. |
The Blazers had won three straight and nine of 10, but since a
36-point win over Atlanta on Nov. 13, Portland has hardly looked
like the dominant team everyone expected when owner Paul Allen put
together a starting lineup with a salary of about $53 million.
During that span, the Blazers were pushed to the limit by
Orlando, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Minnesota and Houston -- which are
a combined 32-37, and they lost to Cleveland.
"We have been flirting with disaster for some time now,"
Blazers coach Mike Dunleavy said after his team fell to 13-3
overall and 5-1 at home. "A lot of things contributed to this
loss. We didn't have good shot selection and we didn't get many
loose balls. Indiana played a really energetic game. They deserved
to win it."
The Pacers worked harder, snaring up-for-grabs rebounds and
hitting shots when they had to. After Sunday night's 102-91 loss at
Seattle -- Indiana's fifth in seven games -- coach Larry Bird ripped
his veterans, saying if they wouldn't put forth the effort, he
would play his younger players.
On Monday night, the coach got a mixed bag, but an effective
one: Reggie Miller had another horrible shooting night, but hit a
huge 3-pointer in the fourth quarter; Jalen Rose scored 22 points,
but was only 2-of-7 after halftime; and Dale Davis had a
hard-fought 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Overall, the Pacers shot only 38 percent, but outscored Portland
15-4 in second-chance points. And that elicited some stubborn
praise from Bird.
"There's no secret in this game: If you play hard and play with
some desire, you're going to win a lot of games," he said.
Still, he didn't sound satisfied.
Asked if his players were listening when he told them he'd shake
up the lineup if their play didn't improve, Bird said: "They
better be, because I've had enough of it. I really have. Guys get
paid a lot of money to play hard, and they should come out here and
respect the game, and go after it like they want to win."
Scottie Pippen had a chance to tie it in the frantic final
seconds, but his jumper went off the back of the rim with about 8
seconds left. The Blazers had one more chance, but Pippen's
inbounds pass toward Steve Smith was knocked away and picked up by
Miller.
Miller scored 15 points, but shot only 2-of-11 from the field.
The previous night, he was 1-of-9 with a season-low six points.
"I'm still the go-to guy on this team," Miller said. "I don't
care if I go 0-for-20. The ball better be in my hands at the end of
the game. If the ball is not going to be in my hand, I shouldn't be
around here."
Miller missed seven of his first eight shots and seemed to get
into a shouting match with Rose early on. But Miller hit one of the
biggest shots of the night, a 3-pointer after he stole a pass by
Grant, that put the Pacers ahead 84-79 with 6:16 to go.
Pippen, who had 20 points and 10 rebounds, hit a 3-pointer to
close the gap to 90-89 with 42 seconds left. Indiana's Travis Best
was fouled and made both free throws with 19.3 seconds left for a
92-89 lead.
Damon Stoudamire hit a short baseline jumper to make it 92-91
with 14.7 seconds left. Rose was fouled immediately, but made only
one of two at the line for a 93-91 lead.
Pippen inbounded the ball and got it back, but couldn't drive
into the lane, and his fallaway jumper wasn't close.
"We've been stumbling for the last couple of weeks, and it's
something we felt was going to catch up on us," Pippen said.
"We're not getting out and running and scoring."
Rasheed Wallace had 20 points and 11 rebounds for Portland.
Game notes
Indiana didn't make a field goal in the last 3:48. ...
Portland shot under 40 percent for the fourth time in five games.
... Indiana, the defending Central Division champion, improved to
8-7. ... Portland has allowed 100 points only once in 16 games, in
a 103-100 loss to Cleveland on Nov. 23. ... Miller is shooting 30
percent in his last 10 games.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Indiana Clubhouse
Portland Clubhouse
RECAPS
Miami 98
Sacramento 88
New York 107
Dallas 82
Utah 115
Golden State 99
Indiana 93
Portland 91
Houston 118
Vancouver 110
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