Miller’s Hot Shooting Is Old Trick for Pacers

As Reggie Miller made his third three-point basket in 50 seconds, he backpedaled on defense and stared at Michael Jordan, who was sitting on the baseline.

What Miller couldn’t say with words, he said with his eyes: Come out and play.

“I would never say that to the all-time greatest player ... ever,� Miller said with a laugh. “But I was thinking it.�

The 37-year-old Miller scored 17 of his 25 points in the decisive third quarter, and Ron Artest had 21 as the Indiana Pacers beat the Washington Wizards, 100-84, Friday night at Indianapolis.

The Pacers, who have the best record in the Eastern Conference at 13-2, made 35 of 36 free throws and improved to 9-1 at home.

With the Pacers down by six in the third, Miller pump-faked an oncoming Larry Hughes and made a three-pointer and the free throw to make it 61-59. Miller then made threes on the next two possessions for a 65-64 lead.

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Philadelphia 106, Cleveland 99 -- Allen Iverson took over in the last two minutes at Cleveland and the 76ers withstood a furious fourth-quarter comeback, sending the Cavaliers to their 13th straight loss. Iverson finished with 29 points, but had to rescue the 76ers down the stretch when the Cavaliers chopped an 18-point deficit in the fourth down to two with 2:02 left.

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Toronto 98, Boston 95 -- Morris Peterson scored a career-high 31 points and Vince Carter had 23 at Boston in his first start since Nov. 2 as the Raptors ended a six-game losing streak. Antoine Walker tied a season high with 31 points for the Celtics, who had their four-game winning streak ended.

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Atlanta 100, Miami 94 -- Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored 29 points at Atlanta as the Hawks rallied from an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat the Heat in overtime. Abdur-Rahim put the Hawks ahead for good, 94-91, on a jumper with 2:41 left in the extra period.

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Detroit 96, Milwaukee 91 -- Richard Hamilton scored 20 points and Ben Wallace had 12 points and 21 rebounds to help the Pistons win at Auburn Hills, Mich. Six Pistons scored in double figures, and the only starter who didn’t, Chucky Atkins, had 12 assists.

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Utah 95, Minnesota 77 -- Matt Harpring set a career high for the second consecutive game with 33 points as the Jazz won its sixth in a row, defeating the Timberwolves at Salt Lake City. Coming off his previous career high of 30 points against the Clippers on Tuesday, Harpring made his first seven shots and 13 of 18 overall.

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Golden State 92, Denver 82 -- Earl Boykins scored 20 points and had six of his seven steals during a key run in the third quarter as the Warriors overcame a 21-point deficit to win at Denver. Gilbert Arenas had 27 points and seven assists for Golden State, which won for only the third time in eight games.

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Phoenix 94, San Antonio 87 -- Stephon Marbury scored 43 points -- his biggest output since joining the Suns before last season -- as Phoenix rallied to win at home. Marbury had a team-record 26 points in the fourth quarter in his biggest game since he scored a career-high 50 for New Jersey on Feb. 13, 2001, against the Lakers.

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Houston 83, Seattle 72 -- Steve Francis had a streaky night and scored 13 of his 21 points in the third quarter as the Rockets won at Seattle. Glen Rice and Kenny Thomas each had 12 points. Seattle lost its third in a row, shooting 37% and posting a season-low 26 second-half points.