Dirk Nowitzki, limited almost exclusively to jump shots by O'Neal's extended defense, went 4-of-20 from the field, missing all eight of his 3-point attempts.
Getting waves of strong performances from several players, the Pacers stopped Dallas' season-opening win streak at 14 games with a resounding 110-98 victory on Thanksgiving night in Conseco Fieldhouse. While the Pacers raised their record to 12-2, best in the Eastern Conference, the Mavericks fell one game short of tying the fastest start in NBA history
"This was definitely a good win for us in terms of our confidence, playing against the hottest team in the league," said coach Isiah Thomas. "I thought we came out and played a really good basketball game
Indiana rode the tag team of Ron Artest, Al Harrington and Jermaine O'Neal through the game. Artest got things started, scoring the team's first 10 points and setting his usual aggressive, intense tone. Harrington came off the bench to score 15 in the second period when a 13-0 run gave the Pacers control of the game. O'Neal racked up 13 in the fourth period, including 11 of the team's final 19 points.
O'Neal finished with a season-high 28 points and 18 rebounds. Harrington had 21 on 9-of-12 shooting. Artest produced 20 points, a career-high 11 rebounds, six assists and three steals.
"We're a nasty team. Sometimes, I think we're too nasty," said Artest. "You never know who's going to come in and explode."
We had to make a point," said Harrington. "We failed to get it done against Detroit, but we had extra incentive with them being undefeated and the whole world watching....
"People have been saying we have an easy schedule or we've been lucky or whatever. We want the country and the world to know the Pacers are a team to be reckoned with this year."
Nowitzki certainly was impressed.
"They're up there (athletically) for sure," he said. "They're very good defensively. They've got guys who can create their own shots and they've got guys who can hit the threes. With Reggie Miller back, they're even more dangerous. They will be heard from in the East."
Solid nights were also turned in by Jamaal Tinsley, who played 43 minutes and produced 13 points, a season-high 15 assists and seven rebounds, and Brad Miller, who had 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting in 26 minutes. Reggie Miller scored 10 points but may have had the single biggest bucket of the game, a dagger 3-pointer that stopped a seven-point Dallas run and put the Pacers up 91-80 with 7:07 remaining.
"This means a lot," said Artest. "We beat the best team and we played the full 48 minutes."
... O'Neal raised his season high for the second game in a row and produced his ninth double-double, most in the East. ...
Pacers 110, Mavericks 98
11/28/2002 Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN Time of Game: 2:23
Officials: #32 Eddie F. Rush , #63 Derek Richardson , #62 Michael Henderson
Mavericks
REBOUNDS
PLAYER POS MIN FGM-A 3GM-A FTM-A OFF DEF TOT AST PF ST TO BS PTS
STEVE NASH G 41 10-23 4-7 5-5 4 3 7 9 1 2 4 0 29
MICHAEL FINLEY G 39 7-20 2-5 0-0 1 2 3 1 2 2 3 0 16
DIRK NOWITZKI F 42 4-20 0-8 9-13 1 7 8 4 5 0 2 3 17
ADRIAN GRIFFIN F 7 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0
SHAWN BRADLEY C 26 5-6 0-0 0-0 2 4 6 0 5 0 1 3 10
Eduardo Najera 28 2-6 0-0 4-4 2 4 6 0 3 1 0 0 8
Walt Williams 26 2-6 1-5 2-4 2 2 4 2 3 2 0 1 7
Raja Bell 23 3-5 1-3 2-2 0 1 1 1 2 3 0 0 9
Avery Johnson 6 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0
Adam Harrington 1 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
Mark Strickland 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Popeye Jones DNP
Evan Eschmeyer DNP
TOTAL 240 34-90 8-28 22-28 12 24 36 18 24 10 11 7 98
37.8% 28.6% 78.6% Team Rebs: 8 Total TO: 11
Pacers
REBOUNDS
PLAYER POS MIN FGM-A 3GM-A FTM-A OFF DEF TOT AST PF ST TO BS PTS
JAMAAL TINSLEY G 43 5-11 1-4 2-2 0 7 7 15 3 1 3 1 13
REGGIE MILLER G 35 4-8 2-5 0-0 1 1 2 1 2 0 3 0 10
RON ARTEST F 40 7-14 1-3 5-5 4 7 11 6 4 3 3 1 20
JERMAINE O'NEAL F 40 11-22 0-0 6-8 4 14 18 1 3 0 3 1 28
BRAD MILLER C 26 7-8 0-0 2-3 0 5 5 2 5 0 3 0 16
Al Harrington 23 9-12 0-0 3-4 1 4 5 1 5 0 1 0 21
Ron Mercer 16 0-4 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 2 1 0 0 0
Jonathan Bender 12 1-3 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 1 2
Jeff Foster 5 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 0 0 0 1 1 0
Fred Jones DNP
Primoz Brezec DNP
Austin Croshere DNP
TOTAL 240 44-83 4-13 18-22 11 43 54 29 24 5 17 5 110
53.0% 30.8% 81.8% Team Rebs: 7 Total TO: 19
TEAM STATISTICS
Mavericks Pacers
Fast Break Pts 25 Fast Break Pts 26
Points in the Paint 38 Points in the Paint 54
Biggest Lead 2 Biggest Lead 16
Final 1 2 3 4 T
Mavericks 29 20 20 29 98
Pacers 29 30 25 26 110
Technical Foul Individual
DAL
IND 1st Qtr 11:31 Ron Artest
u know i had to drop the official on this game folks
:classic: