INDIANA 112, DENVER 110
Dunleavy sparks wild victory
At Denver | Nov. 27, 2007
Moments after his best game as a member of the Pacers and perhaps one of the most memorable of his career, Mike Dunleavy was asked to summarize the evening's series of unpredictable events.
"We got off to a great start, they came back," Dunleavy said. "We got off to a great start in the second half, they came back. But we just persevered. Even when they made that run at the end we knew everything would be alright."
Dunleavy's 3-pointer with 1 minute left appeared to seal the victory, giving the Pacers a 106-97 lead but this game of wild swings had one more. Denver threw in three 3-pointers while the visitors missed three free throws, leaving Indiana with a 111-108 lead and the Nuggets with one last chance in the closing seconds.
When official Bennie Adams – whose judgment was a source of consternation throughout the night for the Pacers – called Dunleavy for a phantom foul as J.R. Smith flopped to the floor after missing a corner 3-pointer, it appeared the Nuggets had been handed a miraculous finish with 2.7 seconds left. But Smith missed the third free throw, Shawne Williams cradled the rebound and the Pacers escaped with a 112-110 victory Tuesday night in Pepsi Center.
"That was just an awful call," said Dunleavy. "It kind of took the wind out of our sails but the basketball doesn't lie, he missed the last free throw and we got the win."
Dunleavy scored 20 in the second half as the Pacers (7-8) snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Nuggets and won for the third time in four games overall. They also gained a measure of vengeance for a 113-106 home loss to Denver on Nov. 10 in which they blew a 25-point lead.
With Jermaine O'Neal missing his fourth game in a row due to swelling in his left knee, Shawne Williams picked up his first start of the season at power forward and produced 21 points and a career-high 11 rebounds, although it was his missed free throw with 11 seconds remaining that left the door open. Jamaal Tinsley once again flirted with a triple-double with 15 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, adding four steals but committing six turnovers. Marquis Daniels had 15 points and eight assists off the bench and Troy Murphy had 10 points and eight rebounds.
"We just kept running, just kept pushing," Dunleavy said. "We knew this is a team that wants to run forward but they don't want to run back. They have two great scorers but we did a pretty good job containing them and we hung in there and got the job done."
Allen Iverson scored 26 but was 6-of-21 from the field for Denver, while Carmelo Anthony scored 25 on 9-of-21 shooting. The Nuggets shot .361 overall but enjoyed a 31-18 scoring advantage from the free-throw line.
In a game of dramatic swings, the Pacers scored the first 15 points and jumped out to a 21-3 lead, but the Nuggets quickly countered with a 22-6 run to close to 27-25. Denver eventually took the lead 48-46 late in the second quarter but the Pacers put together an 18-4 run bridging intermission to push the lead to 64-52.
The Nuggets then appeared to take control with a 20-2 run that included two technical fouls on the Pacers, one for delay of game and one on Coach Jim O'Brien. Denver's lead grew to 83-76 late in the third but Dunleavy scored six points in a 14-0 run spanning the third and fourth periods as the Pacers reversed the deficit to take a 90-83 lead. The Nuggets missed 11 shots in a row in that run.
The Pacers were able to maintain the lead the rest of the way, although it was anything but comfortable.
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