Jackson and Indiana cruise past slumping Philadelphia

Peja Stojakovic added 18 points for the Pacers, who won for the second time in three games and tied Washington for the fifth position in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Danny Granger contributed a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds in the win.

Allen Iverson recorded a game-high 26 points and dished out six assists for the Sixers, who lost their second straight game and for the sixth time in seven contests. Philadelphia remains two games in front of Chicago for the Eastern Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot. Chris Webber netted 24 points in the loss.

Philadelphia scored only 34 points in the second half as the Pacers used a stifling defense to bury the Sixers.

Indiana scored the first six points of the second half to take control of the contest, 58-45.

Jermaine O’Neal fueled the mini-spurt with a turnaround jumper. After Stojakovic connected on a fade away jumper, Jackson got behind the Sixers’ lazy defense for an easy layup to cap the burst with less than two minutes gone in the quarter.

The Pacers continued to stretch the lead from there.

Five straight Jackson points finished the quarter. First the Indiana swingman buried a three from the left corner. On the Pacers’ next possession, Jackson connected on a mid-range jumper from the right baseline to make the score 76-57 entering the final frame.

O’Neal’s reverse layup, with a little over two minutes gone in the fourth quarter, gave Indiana its largest lead of the game, 78-57.

The Sixers managed to cut the deficit to 14 points, 84-70, after Kyle Korver busted a long three from the right wing, but Jackson halted any thoughts of a comeback by answering with a trey of his own to make the score, 87-70 with 3:49 remaining.

Philadelphia never seriously threatened the rest of the way.

The two teams were on the see-saw for the first 12 minutes of action. After seven lead changes, the Sixers took a slim 25-23 advantage heading into the second quarter.

The Pacers dominated the second frame and took a 52-45 edge into intermission. Granger came off the bench to lead Indiana with 15 points. Iverson had 18 points at the break for Philadelphia.

Game Notes

Indiana’s Jeff Foster had 14 rebounds...Indiana is 4-5 in its last nine home games and 22-13 at Conseco Fieldhouse this season...The Sixers own a 12-22 mark as the visitor this season and have lost four straight on the road...The Sixers had won three in a row at Conseco Fieldhouse...The Sixers’ bench contributed just 19 points and was a miserable 8-for-25 from the floor. Samuel Dalembert was 1-of-11...Indiana had a season-high 26 turnovers.