RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ The Indiana Pacers gave Market Square Arena an appropriate farewell.

Austin Croshere scored 19 points as the Pacers beat the Utah Jazz 97-65 Friday night in their final home game before moving into the new Conseco Fieldhouse for the 1999-00 regular season.

A pregame ceremony featured former Pacers and San Antonio Spurs, opponents in the arena's first regular-season game in 1974, and halftime and postgame video presentations celebrated the 16,000-seat arena's 25-year history.

"For me to have a chance to have an entire career in one place, yes, it's very sentimental," Pacers guard Reggie Miller said. "Watching that video and the excitement we brought to the city and fans was special.

"Hopefully, we can take that to the new fieldhouse and build new memories and dreams," said Miller, the team's career scoring leader.

Pacers coach Larry Bird, an Indiana native who returned as a player during his career with the Boston Celtics, said, "It was important to win this game, but we're trying to win all the preseason games. The guys played extremely well."

Rik Smits added 14 points and Jalen Rose had 12 for Indiana. Utah, which shot 33 percent, was led by Jacque Vaughn with 10 points and Rick Hughes added 9.

"I never could hit a shot in here," Bird said. "But I remember the first time I saw Market Square and I was awed by it. Coaching in here, we've had a lot of great experiences. It's always sad to leave a building like this, but the new one is not too bad."

The nostalgia was heavy throughout the exhibition game, and the Pacers (4-1) wasted little time making sure the capacity crowd of 16,534 went home happy.

With 8 points early by Dale Davis, Indiana opened a 27-19 lead after one quarter, stretched it to 54-30 with a 22-6 run late in the second and took leads of up to 32 points in the second half.

The Jazz (2-3) led only in the game's opening minutes, when John Stockton had 7 of his team's first 10 points, but repeated turnovers, poor shooting and quick foul trouble put Utah in trouble and the Pacers never let up.

Indiana hit its first 16 free throws, including four straight by Rose and two by Miller on three straight possessions late in the second quarter. Sam Perkins, who continued his hot shooting with two 3-pointers _ he's 10-for-14 from long range in the preseason _ accounted for the Pacers' first miss from the foul line early in the fourth quarter. By then, however, the game was long out of reach and reserves played the rest of the way for both teams.

For the game, Indiana was 24-of-27 on free throws and forced Utah into 24 turnovers while committing just 13.