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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- San Antonio's Malik Rose credited Spurs
teammates David Robinson and Tim Duncan with creating offensive
opportunities for him.
"Those guys command so many double- and triple-teams, I just
run out there and find an open spot, crash to the boards, do things
like that," said Rose, who had 20 points and 13 rebounds off the
bench, and the Spurs shut down the Indiana Pacers' top scorers in
an 89-77 victory Saturday night.
"We really have two of the best big guys in the league, and we
try to funnel everything to them on defense and everything through
them on offense," Rose said. "As they go, we go."
Rose was 8-of-13 from the field and made 8-of-10 free throws for
San Antonio, which snapped a two-game road losing streak.
"Malik's playing like the sixth man of the year," Spurs coach
Gregg Popovich said. "He's improved his offense tremendously. The
guy is really versatile. We'd really be in trouble without him."
Robinson added 15 points and nine rebounds, Terry Porter 12
points, Derek Anderson 11 and Danny Ferry 10 for the Spurs.
San Antonio's defense smothered Jalen Rose and Reggie Miller,
limiting them to 29 points.
Jalen Rose, averaging 24 points, was 9-of-21 and finished with
20 points. After hitting 29 consecutive free throws entering the
game, Rose missed four straight and finished 2-of-6 from the line.
Many of his points came with the game out of reach in the closing
minutes.
Miller, averaging 20 points, was 3-of-14 shooting and 3-of-3 on
free throws. He finished with nine points.
"I thought the team defense was pretty good tonight," Popovich
said. "That's who we are. When we make stops and rebounds, we win
basketball games. But we haven't been very consistent on the road
in that respect this season for some reason, so it was great to see
us do that tonight."
Travis Best scored 13 points for Indiana, and Jermaine O'Neal
notched a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Through three quarters, Rose (3-of-12) and Miller (2-of-10)
combined to hit just 5-of-22 shots as the Spurs took a 65-54 lead.
San Antonio used an 11-2 run during a two-minute span midway
through the third to build its lead. The Spurs led 48-46 when
Robinson dunked and hit a layup, Malik Rose sank a 10-footer from
the right side and then two free throws, and Steve Kerr hit a
3-pointer from the left corner.
Derrick McKey made a layup for Indiana during that stretch, but
missed on four possessions, turned the ball over once and lost
possession on an offensive foul.
The Spurs made their run without Tim Duncan, who was whistled
for his fourth foul and a drew a technical for complaining about it
75 seconds into the second half. Duncan, who had eight points, was
benched by Popovich until midway through the fourth.
"In a game where we hold Robinson to 15 points and (Tim) Duncan
to eight points, we should win the game. But we let others get away
from us," Pacers coach Isiah Thomas said. "We just didn't shoot
the ball well, and when we did get to the foul line, we didn't
shoot the ball well there, either."
Game notes
Until being sidelined Saturday by a sore right Achilles'
tendon, Spurs guard Antonio Daniels had filled in well for injured
point guard Avery Johnson (bruised thigh), scoring 49 points and
dishing out 25 assists in the previous four games. ... In the last
six games, Miller has hit just 3-of-22 3-point attempts. ... Pacers
guard Travis Best has recorded a 7-to-1 ratio (57-8) of assists to
turnovers in his last eight games. ... In the last five, Robinson
has scored 87 points and grabbed 47 rebounds.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
San Antonio Clubhouse
Indiana Clubhouse
RECAPS
Orlando 95
Boston 90
Houston 114
Dallas 99
Seattle 104
Charlotte 102
Miami 110
Detroit 102
San Antonio 89
Indiana 77
New York 88
Minnesota 79
Philadelphia 107
Sacramento 104
Phoenix 109
Toronto 103
Denver 120
Milwaukee 113
Golden State 102
Vancouver 101
LA Lakers 116
LA Clippers 114
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Reggie Miller Official Site
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