PACERS 101, CLIPPERS 96
Tinsley, O'Neal bring Pacers home happy
At Los Angeles | Dec. 2, 2007
The Los Angeles Clippers chose to leave Jamaal Tinsley alone on the perimeter because Jermaine O'Neal was enough trouble in the low post.
They made the wrong choice.
Tinsley capitalized on the open looks, scoring 10 of his 29 points in the final 4:09 and leading the Indiana Pacers to a 101-95 victory on Sunday. The win gave the Pacers (9-9) a 3-1 record on their first long Western Conference road trip of the season. Indiana has won six of its last nine.
"I'm always confident when the ball is in my hands. I don't care if I miss eight or nine shots, I feel like the next one is going to go in,'' Tinsley said. "I've got to credit my coaching staff for leaving me out there when I miss a lot of shots so that I get an opportunity to take another one. They were doubling down on Jermaine, the guys made the extra pass, and they just went in today.''
O'Neal had 20 points and 15 rebounds despite a sore right shoulder. The six-time All-Star was forced to sit out the final 2:19 of Friday night's 95-93 loss at Seattle after hurting himself setting a screen.
"Yesterday morning he wasn't able to get his arm above his shoulder, but we kept on working on it,'' coach Jim O'Brien said. "He was doubtful today, and I was actually planning on going without him. But I found out he could go, and he had a great game.''
O'Neal was more concerned about his left knee Saturday morning than his shoulder. He missed five games prior to the Seattle contest because of swelling in the knee and his lower leg.
"Obviously, my knee has been a concern over the last two months, and I've been struggling to make moves, make shots, rebound and block shots,'' O'Neal said. "The Seattle game was actually the first time I didn't have pain in my knee in almost a year and a half, and today I didn't have any pain in my knee at all.
"My shoulder was about 85 percent,'' O'Neal added. "We iced it a lot yesterday, I took some Advil, iced it again this morning and was ready to go.''
Chris Kaman had 22 points and 22 rebounds for the Clippers, who are 2-9 since a 104-89 win at Indiana on Nov. 7 that capped their 4-0 start. Sam Cassell, who scored 35 points that night, missed his second straight game with a strained left calf.
The Clippers' injury woes grew a bit worse when first-round pick Al Thornton sprained his left ankle and left the game with 1:22 to go in the first half.
"It seems like it's one injury after another for this team,'' said Kaman, the only player to start all 15 games for the Clippers. "We can't make excuses, because every team in the NBA goes through that. But it has been ridiculous.''
Tinsley hit a 3-pointer and a 19-footer 44 seconds apart to put the Pacers ahead to stay, then drained another 3-pointer with 1:56 remaining to put them ahead 96-90 and added a pair of free throws in the final minute.
Los Angeles used an 8-0 run to turn a four-point deficit into an 88-84 lead with 7:08 to play. Tim Thomas' nine-foot jumper capped the rally, but it would be the Clippers' last field goal until Corey Maggette's 3-pointer with 6 seconds left in the game.
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