Pacers win big, lose O’Neal in collision

With the win, Indiana moved 5 1/2 games ahead of the idle, but surging Detroit Pistons for first place in both the Central Division and Eastern Conference playoff race.

But the Pacers lost All Star forward Jermaine O’Neal to an apparent left knee sprain in the second quarter. O’Neal, who collided with Bulls forward Ronald Dupree, will be re-evaluated Tuesday.

"It’s a combination of a bruise and a sprain," Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. "At this point it’s not deemed to be serious, but we’ll see how it is [Tuesday]."

Indiana snapped its third two-game losing streak of the season and has yet to suffer three straight losses. The Pacers also halted Chicago’s fifth two-game winning streak, as the Bulls failed again to put together three consecutive victories, something they have yet to do this season.

Eddy Curry scored 13 points to pace Chicago, which hasn’t won a game at Indiana since March 17, 1998. The Bulls have dropped 11 straight and 12 of their last 13 on the road against the Pacers.

Chicago head coach Scott Skiles sat his starters most of the second half.

"I don’t think it was a bad decision," Skiles said afterwards. "If you look at the game, it was common sense. We couldn’t get close enough to put them back in."

Added Curry, who played just seven minutes after halftime: "I wasn’t really surprised. Coach makes all the decisions. If he wants to look in a different direction, I’m okay with that."

Indiana controlled the pace of the game from the start, despite losing O’Neal with more than eight minutes to play in the second quarter.

The Pacers led by as many as 14 points in the first quarter when they used a 15-2 surge to pull ahead 28-14. Chicago pulled within 29-18 heading into the second, and later cut the deficit to seven midway through the period, but Indiana responded with a 14-3 burst.

Jamaal Tinsley’s three-pointer capped the spurt and gave the Pacers a 47-29 lead with 2:34 remaining before the break. He led all players with 11 first half points on 3-of-3 shooting from behind the arc, as the Pacers carried a 49-32 advantage into the locker room.

"He came out real aggressive tonight," Chicago guard Kirk Hinrich said of Tinsley. "He made some three-pointers early that kind of got him going."

Indiana shot just 38 percent in the first half, but its bench outscored Chicago’s by a 14-2 margin. The Bulls also committed 11 turnovers, matching their number of field goals (11-of-33).

Chicago had six more turnovers in the third quarter and fell behind by as many as 26 points. Miller, who had just six points for Indiana in the first half, was 4-of-5 in the third for 11 points, despite not scoring for the final 5 1/2 minutes of the period.

"I concentrated on looking for my shot more," Miller said of his performance. "I just wanted to get that winning taste back."

Fred Jones’ jumper at the buzzer gave the Pacers a 77-53 lead heading into the fourth, and Chicago would not get closer than 20 the rest of the way.