O'Neal scored a career-high 38 points and had a crucial blocked shot in the final minute as the Pacers held on for their seventh straight road win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, 109-103.
The 23-year-old power forward has netted at least 20 points in eight of his last nine games. He scored 14 in the first half on 7-of-10 shooting and 14 in the third quarter as Indiana established a 84-78 lead through 36 minutes.
O'Neal went 15-of-20 from the field and 8-of-9 from the free-throw line.
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from Pacers-Cavaliers: 56k | 300k  Jermaine O'Neal scored a career-high 38 points. David Liam Kyle NBAE/Getty Images |
The Pacers extended the advantage to nine points with just over 2 1/2 minutes left, but Bryant Stith made a jumper, a layup and a free throw in a 35-second span.
Stith, who scored all of his 10 points during the final 1:55, converted another layup with 50 seconds remaining to cut the Cavs' deficit to 103-100.
"If I knew he was going to play like that, I would have started him," Cavs coach John Lucas joked. "They had a bad matchup with (Jonathan) Bender, and he couldn't guard him."
Cleveland's Andre Miller, who had 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, forced a jump ball with veteran Reggie Miller. The Cavs controlled the tip, Jumaine Jones missed a potential tying shot from beyond the arc.
"It felt good once it left my hand," Jones said. "I thought it went in, but it didn't happen."
O'Neal blocked Stith's attempt off the rebound with 27.3 seconds left to help secure the Pacers' fourth consecutive win in the series.
"I never saw him," Stith said. "I beat my defender, but I didn't see the rotation help from the weak side."
"All night, those guys were driving and I didn't block any shots," O'Neal said. "Bryant Stith drove to the lane a play or two earlier and got one in on me. That really made me upset. So I wanted to get in there and do something, get a rebound or block a shot, and I was able to do it."
Stith capped his remarkable stint by nailing a 3-pointer with less than five seconds left to make it 105-103. But Rose and Miller sealed it from the line.
O'Neal's career high was 30 points, which he reached twice. He also scored 30 last April 18 in the Pacers' last visit to Gund Arena.
"There's something about this building," Pacers coach Isiah Thomas said. "The rims look as wide as an ocean to him. I mean, he's making everything."
It's been a big week for O'Neal, who scored 29 points in Friday's victory over New Jersey.
"We doubled, we did everything we could. He was just too big inside for us tonight," Lucas said. "We had no answer for Jermaine O'Neal. He just wore us out."
Playing his sixth season after entering the NBA out of high school, O'Neal had 27 points and 16 rebounds on Wednesday, when the Pacers fell to Toronto.
"I'm not concerned if he becomes the leading scorer or not," Thomas said. "But I am concerned, if we're going to get to the next level, if we're going to become a championship-caliber team, we've got to have an inside attack. For so long, the Pacers were known as a jump-shooting team. Consequently, we couldn't get to the foul line."
Miller made four 3-pointers and scored 18 points and rookie Jamaal Tinsley dished out 14 assists.