Pacers-Heat Gamer 071102

INDIANA 87, MIAMI 85
Pacers rally, Rush past Heat

By Conrad Brunner | Nov. 2, 2007

Two games, two unpopular officials' reversals in the closing minutes and two last-second 3-pointers from the opposition later, the Pacers nevertheless stand two-and-oh.

"Hot diggity dog," said Coach Jim O'Brien as he stood up to exit his postgame press conference.

Make that record two-and-oh-my.

With Kareem Rush rising from the end of the bench to hit two huge 3-pointers, the Pacers put together a 12-point run to wipe out a seven-point deficit in the final four minutes and pulled out an 87-85 victory over Miami Friday in Conseco Fieldhouse.

"If people don't believe this group is never going to give up, they should've been here," said O'Brien. "That was a hell of a basketball game."

Consecutive 3-pointers by Mark Blount and Daequan Cook gave Miami an 82-75 lead with 4:06 remaining. But the defense dug in, holding the Heat to 0-of-7 shooting while forcing three turnovers, and the offense responded. Rush's 3-pointers, from the exact same spot in the left corner in front of the Miami bench, gave the Pacers an 85-82 lead and Danny Granger followed with a pull-up jumper from the free throw line to make it a five-point lead with 40 seconds left.

In the midst of the run the Pacers again were on the wrong end of an officials' reversal as the original call that Jermaine O'Neal had taken a charge from Ricky Davis was changed and O'Neal was hit with his sixth foul instead. Rather than buckling in the face of that particularly unfortunate turn of events, the Pacers forced a 24-second violation, then Rush nailed his second trey.

Miami's Ricky Davis heaved in a 3-pointer from midcourt as time expired but unlike Wednesday night, when Washington's Gilbert Arenas hit a buzzer-beater to force overtime, this one had no effect on the outcome.

Granger led the Pacers with 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting, including 4-of-6 from the arc, and added nine rebounds. Ike Diogu had a big game off the bench with 16 points and six rebounds. Mike Dunleavy weathered an eight-stitch gash in his upper lip to score 15 with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Though Jermaine O'Neal didn't shoot well (2-of-9) in his first outing, he had nine rebounds, three blocks and tied his career-high with seven assists.

"It was a great team victory," O'Brien said.

Though the Pacers shot just 39.8 percent and generally lost the tug-of-war for the tempo against Miami, they held the Heat to 37.5 percent shooting and forced 19 turnovers. Shaquille O'Neal totaled just eight points on 4-of-13 shooting with seven rebounds and four blocks. He fouled out with six turnovers. Cook lead Miami with 17 points off the bench.

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