Infobeat's report C's loss to Pacers

[Kevin Lok <kevin.lok@lycosmail.com>]

INDIANA 99, BOSTON 96

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The NBA's best free-throwing
shooting team
made Boston pay for its aggressive play.

Rik Smits had a season-high 26 points as the
Indiana Pacers beat
the Celtics 99-96 on Tuesday night, extending the
franchise's
second-longest winning streak at home to 16 games.
Indiana was
24-for-30 from the free-throw line, while Boston
was 7-for-12.

"They commit the most fouls in the league,"
Indiana coach Larry
Bird said. "We knew if we drove it at them, kept
taking it
inside, we'd get to the line. We were planning to
get to the line
25-to-30 times."

Smits was 11-for-15 from the field and made all
four of his free
throws.

"I'm still mad that I missed three easy shots,"
said Smits, who
played only 28 minutes. "It doesn't matter. We're
winning ball
games, and that's the bottom line."

"They go to the line quite a bit," Boston coach
Rick Pitino said.
"I don't usually comment too much about the
officiating. Let me
just drop it there, I'll stay with my policy."

Antoine Walker led the Celtics with 27 points, but
was only
11-of-27 from the field.

"We put ourselves in position to win, but
unfortunately came up
short," Pitino said. "They got to the foul line.
We didn't. Give
them credit."

Walker also selected his words carefully when
asked about the
disparity in free throws.

"You never want to try and blame the officials,
but there were a
couple of questionable calls at the end," Walker
said.

Boston, which lost to the Pacers in Indiana for
the ninth
consecutive time, fell behind by 12 early in the
third quarter.
The Celtics then got back in the game with eight
unanswered
points, including consecutive jumpers on fast
breaks by Kenny
Anderson. There were 10 lead changes in the first
three quarters,
which ended with Indiana holding a 75-72 lead.

Boston took its final lead at 82-81 on a layup by
Vitaly
Potapenko. Two free throws by Dale Davis and a
tip-in by Sam
Perkins gave Indiana an 85-82 lead and the game
was tied one last
time at 86 on a jumper by Tony Battie. Jalen Rose,
who
contributed 20 points to the victory, hit a jumper
to give
Indiana an 88-86 lead it wouldn't relinquish.

"We turned them away when we had to," said Davis,
who finished
with 11 points and 14 rebounds. "We had to keep
pounding the ball
to the inside and take advantage of that (inside
pressure)."


INDIANA PACERS 99, Boston Celtics 96

BOSTON (96)
                    FG     FT   Reb
              Min  M-A    M-A   O-T   A  F Pts
              ---  ---    ---   ---   -  - ---
Griffin        24  2-4    0-0   0-1   1  2   4
Walker         42 11-27   3-6   3-8   1  5  27
Potapenko      20  5-8    0-0   3-12  2  6  10
Pierce         39  7-13   1-1   2-5   3  2  16
Anderson       36  8-18   0-0   1-2   7  4  16
Battie         27  3-6    2-2   3-9   1  2   8
Cheaney        29  3-6    0-0   0-2   0  2   7
Fortson         5  1-1    1-3   1-5   1  3   3
Barros         13  2-5    0-0   0-0   1  2   5
McCarty         5  0-0    0-0   0-1   1  0   0

Totals        240 42-88   7-12 13-45 18 28  96

Percentages: FG .477, FT .583. 3-Point Goals:
5-17, .294 (Walker
2-4, Cheaney 1-2, Barros 1-3, Pierce 1-4, Griffin
0-1, Anderson
0-3). Team Rebounds: 2. Blocked Shots: 3 (Walker,
Battie,
Pierce). Turnovers: 14 (Walker 3, Potapenko 3,
Barros 2, Pierce
2, Battie, Cheaney, Fortson, Griffin). Steals: 9
(Walker 2,
Anderson 2, Battie 2, Pierce, Potapenko, Cheaney).
Technical
Fouls: None. Illegal Defense: None.


INDIANA (99)
                    FG     FT   Reb
              Min  M-A    M-A   O-T   A  F Pts
              ---  ---    ---   ---   -  - ---
Rose           41  9-18   2-4   0-4   6  0  20
Davis          40  3-6    5-6   1-14  1  3  11
Smits          28 11-15   4-4   3-6   1  3  26
Miller         42  5-13   4-4   0-3   2  1  16
Jackson        23  1-7    0-0   0-2   7  2   2
Croshere       11  0-2    0-0   1-3   0  0   0
Best           25  4-6    5-8   0-3   5  3  14
Mullin         12  1-3    0-0   1-1   1  1   2
Perkins        17  2-4    4-4   1-6   1  0   8
McKey           1  0-0    0-0   0-1   0  1   0

Totals        240 36-74  24-30  7-43 24 14  99

Percentages: FG .486, FT .800. 3-Point Goals:
3-11, .273 (Miller
2-3, Best 1-1, Jackson 0-1, Croshere 0-1, Perkins
0-1, Rose 0-2,
Mullin 0-2). Team Rebounds: 5. Blocked Shots: 6
(Davis 3, Rose,
Perkins, Smits). Turnovers: 12 (Jackson 3, Best 3,
Smits 3, Rose,
Croshere, Perkins). Steals: 6 (Best 3, Rose,
Jackson, Mullin).
Technical Fouls: None. Illegal Defense: None.

-----------------------
Boston   23 22 27 24-96
Indiana  26 27 22 24-99
-----------------------

A-18,345 (18,345). T-2:12. Officials-Hue Hollins,
Tom Washington,
Dee Kantner.