NBA Game Summary - Boston at Indiana

Indianapolis, IN (Basketball News) - Vin Baker’s jumper in the lane with 20.8 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter lifted the Boston Celtics past the Indiana Pacers, 78-76, at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Paul Pierce collected 19 points, nine assists and six rebounds for Boston, which has won two in a row after a three-game skid.

Baker had 12 points and Mike James and Tony Battie each chipped in 11 for the Celtics, who rallied from a 15-point, first-half deficit.

Jermaine O’Neal paced Indiana with 25 points and 11 boards. However, he scored only four points in the second half. Al Harrington netted 17 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Pacers, who had a five-game winning streak snapped. Indiana managed only 28 points in the second half.

Boston scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter to grab a 68-62 lead. James’ three-pointer with 8:01 left culminated the run.

Indiana then broke a 9 1/2-minute field goal drought on its next possession, as Jeff Foster converted a layup. The Pacers would go on to score the next six points as well to regain the advantage at 70-68 with 3:55 remaining.

The teams then went back-and-forth and Pierce’s free throw with 54.9 seconds left gave Boston a 75-74 edge.

O’Neal then scored inside on a second effort to put Indiana in front with 37.1 seconds remaining.

On the next possession for the Celtics, Baker drove to the lane and hit the fadeaway jumper to make it 77-76 in favor of Boston.

O’Neal then missed a turnaround jumper and the Celtics got the rebound. James was finally fouled with just 7/10ths of a second left. He made the first attempt from the line and missed the second intentionally to kill off the remaining time.

Boston trailed by 14 points at the intermission, but outscored Indiana 25-14 in the third quarter to pull within 62-59. Pierce had seven points in the period and the Celtics made 11-of-19 field goal attempts in the stanza.

The Pacers took control early, scoring 11 of the first 15 points of the game. O’Neal’s 15-foot jumper with just under eight minutes left in the opening quarter gave Indiana a seven-point advantage.

The Pacers stretched the margin to 21-13 on Fred Jones’ basket with 2:13 left in the period. Indiana held a 26-18 lead after 12 minutes.

The Pacers then began the second quarter with a 6-0 run, capped by Harrington’s three-pointer, to increase the margin to 14.

The Celtics battled back and cut the deficit to 36-29 on Pierce’s three-point shot with 4 1/2 minutes remaining in the period. However, Indiana answered with an 8-0 run, including five points from O’Neal, to make it 44-29.

The Pacers carried a 48-34 advantage into the locker room at halftime. O’Neal ended with 21 points in the first half, while Pierce led Boston in the opening 24 minutes with 11.