O'Neal collected 20 points and 13 rebounds and Harrington scored 14 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter as the Pacers held off the Orlando Magic, 89-82, for their third consecutive victory.
Miller, who has made more than his share of big shots in a 16-year career, came up with the big play on the defensive end to seal the win.
 Al Harrington led the Pacers in scoring for the fourth time this season. Tony Firriolo NBAE/Getty Images |
O'Neal averaged a career-high 12.9 points per game in his first season with Indiana. But he has improved that figure to 19.2 in 2001-02. O'Neal scored a career-high 38 points in Saturday's win at Cleveland and has netted at least 20 in eight of his last nine games.
"I hope we can have more big games like we did tonight, where the young guys can really carry the team," O'Neal said. "You have guys like Reggie and Jalen (Rose) who are a little older and work hard. We have to come out and perform like that every night."
Last season, as Indiana's win total dropped from 56 to 41, it was not getting much from young players like Harrington. He averaged 7.5 points per game but is up to 13.3 off the bench this season.
According to coach Isiah Thomas, that has been the difference in 2001-02.
"Last year, our young guys hadn't even hit the floor at this point," Thomas said. "Harrington, (Jeff) Foster and O'Neal weren't really playing or not with the confidence. We put a lot of work into our guys over the summer, developing them every day in practice. Now they're starting to play, and when they make mistakes, we try to correct their mistakes and move on."
Thomas had very little to correct on Wednesday as the duo combined to shoot 18-of-31. But the Pacers shot 41 percent as a team (36-of-87), including Rose's 1-for-12 effort.
O'Neal had 14 points at halftime, but the Pacers trailed, 44-42. Harrington took over in a decisive 10-2 run in the opening four minutes of the fourth quarter, making two mid-range jumpers that extended the lead to 74-64 with just over eight minutes remaining.
In his first game in 10 days, Tracy McGrady led Orlando with 31 points on 11-of-19 shooting. He missed the previous three games with a lower back sprain but received little help from his teammates in his return as the Magic shot 39 percent (30-of-77).
"It was a tough game," Orlando coach Doc Rivers said. "If it's not one thing, it's another. When you give up 17 offensive rebounds, you are not going to win the game. I thought they beat us in three areas -- offensive rebounding, late-clock defensive wide and down the stretch they were tougher. And you can't win a lot of games that way."
Monty Williams was the only other player in double figures for the Magic with 10 points. Mike Miller, who is averaging 16.9 points per game, had just nine on 3-of-15 shooting.
McGrady kept the Magic in it with a 3-pointer and two short jumpers that reduced the deficit to 81-80 with 1:30 left.
But Orlando's lack of clutch shooting did it in. After Miller's layup off the steal, Darrell Armstrong's layup attempt was blocked by O'Neal and Garrity misfired on a 3-point attempt.
"Anytime you hold a team under 90 points, that's what you want," Garrity said. "You've got to be able to score. It didn't seem like we hit a stride where we were making big runs."