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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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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.
|  | | 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.
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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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