| |
 Hornets sting Pacers Phills' jumper hands Indiana its second straight home loss
Posted: Sunday April 11, 1999 01:18 PM
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Indiana didn't lose by a point this time. The Pacers still lost, though. The Pacers, whose five previous losses were all by one point, were beaten by the Charlotte Hornets 92-90 Saturday night. "We didn't come to play," said Indiana coach Larry Bird, whose team has lost consecutive home games for the first time since November 1997. "We looked slow, like an old team. We didn't deserve to win." Bobby Phills scored 23 points, including a baseline jumper with 38 seconds left that put the Hornets ahead for good. All five Charlotte starters scored in double figures. Eddie Jones had 17, David Wesley added 15 and Elden Campbell had 14 points and 16 rebounds. Chucky Brown had 10 points for the Hornets, who got only 13 points from their reserves. "It's always a good game between us and Indiana," Phills said. "Fortunately, we came out on top tonight." The Hornets came out on top in virtually every category, including shooting percentage (42-39), rebounds (48-43), assists (24-15) and steals (8-5). "If we can win against a team like this, on the road, we're going to do fine in the long run," Phills said. The Pacers had a chance to win at the buzzer, but Mark Jackson's 3-point attempt from the right side rattled off the rim. Rik Smits led the Pacers with 22 points and Reggie Miller added 17. Jalen Rose had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Pacers, who were beaten 102-101 by Detroit the previous night on Lindsey Hunter's 3-pointer at the buzzer. "Back-to-back home losses have left a sour taste in everyone's mouth in this locker room," Miller said. "We fought back to get in the game, but we couldn't make the big plays, big shots, or come up with the big stops down the stretch." After two free throws by Brown narrowed Indiana's lead to 90-89, Phills put the Hornets ahead 91-90 with his baseline jumper. Rose missed a jumper with 34 seconds left and Antonio Davis' follow shot was blocked out of bounds by Campbell. After an Indiana timeout, Smits missed a jumper, Phills grabbed the rebound and passed to Jones, who was fouled immediately. Jones hit one of two from the line for the final margin. "This was a big one," said Hornets coach Paul Silas. "We caught this team coming off a terrible loss." The Pacers closed the third quarter with a 16-4 run, pulling within 76-74 after trailing by 14. Indiana's first lead of the second half came with 8:06 left when Miller hit a 3-pointer for an 85-82 advantage. "It's got to be up to the players if they want to save the season," Bird said. "Maybe it's my fault for putting too much pressure on them. I thought they'd come out tonight, but they surprise me every night." Notes: The Pacers hit 20 of 21 free throws. ... Charlotte extended its winning streak to three. The Hornets won their fourth road game of the season ... Charlotte's Derrick Coleman missed his third consecutive game with a sprained left ankle. ... Smits got the 1,000th block of his career. Herb Williams is the team's career leader with 1,094.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 1999 CNN/SI. A Time Warner Company. Terms under which this service is provided to you.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
