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 Indiana holds off Orlando Pacers snap Magic's 6-game win streak
Posted: Thursday April 15, 1999 12:09 AM
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Indiana leads the league in free throw shooting, and it made the difference Wednesday night in a matchup of the two top teams in the East. Reggie Miller hit all 12 of his free throws and finished with 21 points as Indiana defeated Orlando 83-80, snapping the Magic's six-game winning streak. Indiana shot 24-of-26 from the line while Orlando was 11-of-20. The 55 percent shooting was the lowest by an Indiana opponent this season. "Free throws are important. I've known that for a lot of years," Pacers coach Larry Bird said. "They got to the foul line and that made the difference," said Penny Hardaway, who led Orlando with 25 points. "It was a great game for both teams. ... This was a measuring stick." "The magnitude of the game was very large," said Miller, whose team trails the Magic by two games in the battle for home-court advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs. "We put ourselves into the situation to win by coming up with big stops. ... and overall great defense." The Magic trailed by nine points in the third quarter before Hardaway hit a 3-pointer to pull Orlando even at 78-78 with 3:24 to play. A short hook shot by Rik Smits with 3:04 remaining put the Pacers ahead for good, 80-78. Each team turned the ball over on their next two possessions before Smits hit two free throws, giving Indiana an 82-78 edge with 1:22 to go. Darrell Armstrong's driving layup cut Indiana's lead to 82-80 with 48 seconds remaining. Orlando's Nick Anderson, who had 16 points off the bench, then put up a 3-pointer that went in and out of the basket. Jalen Rose got the rebound for Indiana and was fouled. He missed his first attempt, but hit the second with 3.9 seconds to go. Anderson then threw up an airball as time expired. Dale Davis had 12 points and a season-high 16 rebounds, including a season-high seven on the offensive end. He also had a season-high of four blocks for the second consecutive game. "He was our best player out there. No question about it," Indiana coach Larry Bird said. "I tried to come out and play aggressively on both sides of the ball, which meant blocks and shooting too," Davis said. "It feels great coming off a win like this." The Pacers shot just 39 percent from the field, but outrebounded the Magic 51-44. "They played great defense. They executed when they had to. They controlled the game right down until the end," Orlando coach Chuck Daly said. Indiana led 28-24 at the end of the first period as Davis had 10 points and six rebounds. In the second quarter, Orlando opened its biggest lead of the game at 37-30 but Indiana responded to lead 49-43 at the break. A dunk by Davis gave the Pacers their biggest lead of the game at nine points before Hardaway scored 10 in the final period to give the Magic a shot. Notes: The Magic activated Bo Outlaw earlier in the day and he played 18 minutes after missing 19 of the last 20 games. ... Indiana had lost two straight at home. ... The Pacers hit just one field goal in the final seven minutes, but were 9-of-11 from the free-throw line during that time. ... The previous high for an Indiana player off the boards this season was 13, by Antonio Davis and Dale Davis. ... Indiana had a season-low 11 assists and tied its season high of 10 steals. The Pacers matched their season low of 34 points in a half during the second half.
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