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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
CLEVELAND (AP) – The pressure made Austin Croshere's knees
shake. Fortunately, his aim was steady.
Croshere made two free throws with 1.9 seconds left and Reggie
Miller scored 12 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter Friday
night, leading the Indiana Pacers to a 92-90 win over the Cleveland
Cavaliers.
Croshere, an 87 percent free-throw shooter, made both attempts
after he was fouled underneath by Chris Gatling. Croshere said he
had never been at the line with so much on the line.
"That was the first time I've ever been in that situation, high
school, college, wherever," Croshere said. "Never with less than
two seconds. Yeah, I was thinking about it."
Following Croshere's free throws, the Pacers held on for their
third straight win when Derrick McKey and Jalen Rose knocked the
ball away from Lamond Murray just before the horn.
Murray, who had been benched for Cleveland's previous game, and
his teammates thought he was fouled.
"I got slapped on the arm and stuff," Murray said.
"We haven't got those calls all year," Gatling said.
Rose found it hard to believe Murray could do so much in so
little time.
"That was a long 1.9 seconds," Rose said. "He dribbled, lost
it, faked ...."
Travis Best scored 15 points – nine in the fourth – and Jermaine
O'Neal and Rose added 15 apiece for the Pacers, playing for the
first time since beating the Los Angeles Lakers last Sunday.
Indiana snapped a three-game road losing streak.
"We had a great week of practice and some of it carried over,"
Miller said. "We had to execute to win. We made big shots when we
had to."
Jim Jackson scored 23 points in his best game since coming to
Cleveland, but couldn't prevent the Cavs from losing for the 12th
time in 13 games.
Clarence Weatherspoon had 16 points and nine rebounds and Andre
Miller had 11 assists for Cleveland, which has dropped 25 of 31
overall.
"It was personally an OK night, but that doesn't matter because
we didn't win," Jackson said. "We had opportunities, but they
made big plays."
Miller scored seven points in a 55-second span and Rose hit a
3-pointer to put the Pacers ahead 88-83 with 2:48 left. The
five-point advantage matched the biggest of the night as the team's
combined for 26 lead changes and 15 ties.
Miller's only two free throws gave Indiana a 90-86 lead with
1:42 left, but Andre Miller hit a jumper and then scored on a
driving layup to tie it with 25.8 seconds to play.
Rose then missed an off-balance shot from right side and
Croshere was able to come up with the loose ball after O'Neal kept
it alive with a tip. Croshere made both his free throws and
Cleveland called time to set up a final play.
"I never leave the gym without making 10 in a row," said
Croshere. "I said, 'OK, you made 10 this morning, make two right
now'."
With Indiana denying the ball, Jackson had to pass to Murray
near the top of the key and he appeared to get stripped by McKey
just as he started to go up for his shot.
"Jalen got it first," McKey said. "Then I touched it, too. We
did enough to win, but this season has been a big disappointment,
period."
"We got lucky," Pacers coach Isiah Thomas said.
Game notes
It was Cleveland's first loss in 15 games when leading
after three. ... Cavs coach Randy Wittman said he speaks regularly
with his good friend, Thomas. The two played together at Indiana
under Bob Knight. Rarely do they talk about winning an NCAA title
in 1981. "We never reminisce about the national championship. We
reminisce about practice," Thomas said. "I don't think we've ever
had a conversation about what went on in a game. I can't remember a
game. But I remember every practice." ... Wittman said F Matt
Harpring, who underwent surgery on his left ankle on Jan. 2, is
ahead of schedule and could be back next week. ... Thomas said he
wasn't surprised by the volume of trading before Thursday's
deadline. "You don't see many 1-for-1 trades anymore," he said.
"It's usually 1-for-5 or 6-for-22."
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NBA Scoreboard
Indiana Clubhouse
Cleveland Clubhouse
RECAPS
Sacramento 119
Toronto 118
Indiana 92
Cleveland 90
Phoenix 88
New York 84
Philadelphia 99
Detroit 78
Minnesota 122
Golden State 83
Houston 105
Orlando 95
Milwaukee 93
Vancouver 81
San Antonio 100
Boston 82
Utah 96
Seattle 84
LA Lakers 113
Atlanta 106
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