INDIANA 108, GOLDEN STATE 106
Jackson's 3-Pointer Caps Comeback
At Oakland, Calif. | Nov. 29, 2006
For a team that was supposed to struggle from the 3-point line this season, the Pacers have managed to do quite a bit of damage from long range. Trailing by four points with 40 seconds remaining, the Pacers got consecutive 3-pointers from Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson, the latter with one second left, to upend Golden State 108-106 Wednesday at Oracle Arena.
Harrington tied his career high with six 3-pointers and scored a game-high 28 points. His trey with 34.1 seconds left cut the lead to 106-105. After Baron Davis missed a 15-footer with 11 seconds left, Danny Granger got open for a 3-pointer in the corner but missed. Trying to keep the rebound away from a poised O'Neal, Davis tapped the rebound out to Jackson, who swished his trey from the top of the arc.
Golden State, going for the tie, didn't get off a final shot as Mike Dunleavy's inbounds pass sailed through Davis' hands and out of bounds at the buzzer.
The Pacers won both ends of a back-to-back set for the first time this season to improve to 9-7 overall, 5-5 on the road. They've won five of their last seven games. Golden State was riding high, coming off consecutive victories over Utah and San Antonio, but dropped to 9-7 overall, 8-4 at home.
PLUSES
One night after the bench carried the Pacers down the stretch, the starters got the job done this time around. All five scored in double figures while O'Neal (20 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, two blocks) and Jeff Foster (11 points, 10 rebounds) had double-doubles. Harrington was 10-of-17 from the field and added four rebounds and three assists. Jamaal Tinsley scored 12 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, adding eight assists, eight rebounds and four steals. Jackson had a relatively quiet night offensively (13 points, five assists) until the final 3 minutes. The Pacers shot 10-of-22 from the arc (.455) , outrebounded the Warriors 49-45 and outscored the home team 18-8 from the free-throw line while forcing 19 turnovers.
MINUSES
The defense struggled mightily against Warriors guard Monta Ellis, who scored seemingly at will with 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting, adding five assists, four rebounds and two blocked shots. Ellis scored 13 of the Warriors' first 18 points of the fourth quarter but none thereafter. Davis returned after missing four of the previous five games with a strained rib cage muscle and racked up 24 points, nine assists and nine rebounds, shooting 12-of-25 overall. Dunleavy scored 19 and Mickael Pietrus, who had missed the previous two with the flu, scored 12 as the Warriors rolled up a whopping 63-13 dominance in bench points.
MOMENTS
The Pacers started quickly for the second game in a row with the new starting lineup, jumping to an 18-12 lead but the Warriors used runs of 10-3 in the first and 9-0 in the second to build a 38-28 lead. Tinsley scored nine the rest of the period as the visitors cut the halftime deficit to just 56-55, a fortuitous position considering their .392 shooting. Indiana stayed close in the half by outscoring the Warriors 14-1 from the line.
The Pacers made a move early in the third as Harrington hit a trio of 3-pointers to key a 17-6 run that produced a 72-64 lead, but the Warriors responded quickly and, for the second night in a row, the Pacers faced a tie (81-81) heading into the fourth quarter. Ellis threatened to take over the game and Dunleavy's 3-pointer gave Golden State a 102-97 lead with 3:41 left. But Jackson hit a trey to cut the deficit to two. Davis scored on the next two possessions to make it 106-102 with 40.8 seconds remaining, setting up the dramatic finish.
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