LOS ANGELES, 22 November 2004 — Three more players short, the Indiana Pacers made a valiant effort but came up three points short.
Hours after Saturday’s indefinite suspensions of All-Star forwards Jermaine O’Neal and Ron Artest and guard Stephen Jackson, the Pacers suffered an 86-83 home loss to the Orlando Magic, who got 28 points from Grant Hill.
O’Neal, Artest and Jackson — Indiana’s three best players — were suspended by the NBA, along with Detroit All-Star center Ben Wallace, for their roles in Friday’s ugly riot at The Palace of Auburn Hills. The league announced its investigation was to be completed in the night.
The Pacers already have three players on the injured list and another three — Jonathan Bender, Scot Pollard and Jamaal Tinsley — unable to play because of injuries. That left coach Rick Carlisle with just six players, including two rookies.
“I’m really proud of our guys, considering the difficult circumstances that we’re in,” Carlisle said. “I’ve never been in a position where I only had six guys available for a game.”Spurred on by tremendous support from the fans at Conseco Fieldhouse, several Pacers responded with the best games of their careers. Fred Jones played all 48 minutes and scored a career-high 31 points, rookie centre David Harrison scored a season-high 19 points and James Jones added career highs of 12 points and 12 rebounds. “We went out and played with six people and were told to play as long and as hard as we could,” Harrison said.
“The fans gave us a lift and were behind us from the start. I am very tired, but I enjoyed it.” With just one substitute, Carlisle had to monitor fouls and manage timeouts.
His club was tied, 65-65, entering the fourth quarter when Hill took over, scoring 12 points. He had six in an 8-2 burst that gave Orlando the lead for good. “We knew that coming off the emotional events, they would put up a fight,” said Hill, who made 10-of-16 shots. “We didn’t know it was going to be that close.” Fred Jones made a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 84-83 before Hill sank two free throws with 4.7 seconds remaining. A potential tying 3-pointer by Jones was short at the buzzer. “Considering our situation, I think this showed a lot of character for this team,” Carlisle said.
Cleveland 100 Charlotte 84: LeBron James scored 25 points as host Cleveland won its sixth straight game by completing a sweep of the home-and-home series. The expansion Bobcats have lost six in a row.
Minnesota 99 New Orleans 94: The worst start in Hornets franchise history continued with their eighth straight loss. Kevin Garnett shook off a shoulder injury to collect 20 points and 12 boards for visiting Minnesota.
Houston 91 LA Clippers 86 (OT): Tracy McGrady forced overtime with two free throws with 1.1 seconds left in regulation, then scored five of his 32 points in the extra session to lift visiting Houston.
Utah 92, Atlanta 79: In front of 400 of his Turkish compatriots, Mehmet Okur came off the bench to collect 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists to boost visiting Utah. Russian Andrei Kirilenko had 11 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists and seven blocks for the Jazz.
Washington 97 New Jersey 86: New Jersey completed a 0-4 homestand with its fifth straight loss. Antawn Jamison scored 27 points for Washington.
Memphis 100 Golden State 87: Stromile Swift started for injured Spaniard Pau Gasol (ankle) and had 20 points and 12 rebounds as visiting Memphis won for the fourth time in six games.
