Pacers take Game 5, have Celtics on ropes

O’Neal rebounded from a poor performance in Game 4 when he scored only nine points in a 110-79 thumping at Conseco Fieldhouse, as the Pacers moved within one game of moving on to the semifinal round. The Pacers lead this best-of- seven set 3-2 and can close out Boston on Thursday in Indiana.

Dale Davis added 13 points and seven boards and Reggie Miller had 12 points for Indiana, which led for most of the game and held off the Celtics down the stretch.

Paul Pierce had 27 points and seven rebounds for Boston, which has dropped two of three games at home this postseason. Ricky Davis added 19 points and seven boards for the Celtics, who led for a total of only 42 seconds in the game.

In the fourth, every time the Celtics appeared to get close the Pacers always had an answer. After an Antoine Walker layup drew Boston within 77-75 with 5:07 left, Miller drained a three-pointer coming out of a timeout 17 seconds later to increase the lead to five points.

Pierce answered with a trey of his own to again make it a two-point game with 4:28 on the clock, but nearly a minute later O’Neal hit a jumper to increase the Pacers’ edge to four points, 82-78.

Pierce hit another running jumper with 3:05 left to make it 82-80, but Jackson drained a three with 2:38 remaining and Boston never got within a possession the rest of the way.

"There was a period where we could have cracked and we didn’t," said Indiana head coach Rick Carlisle. "Mentally and emotionally we stayed calm and executed. We had some guys make some huge plays obviously, like Reggie’s (Miller) three, Jack (Stephen Jackson) hit a big three, and then we were able to get stops and we have to do both things well to have a chance in this series."

Walker ended with only 10 points for Boston, which doesn’t have history on its side. The Celtics have won only two of nine best-of-seven series when falling behind 3-2.

Indiana, on the other hand, had never lost a series in 21 tries when taking a 3-2 series lead.

"We can sit here and give a million reasons," said Walker. "It’s tough. I got some decent shots around the basket, just not finishing. I missed a couple of layups I probably should have made. We’re down 3-2 and we have to just keep fighting. All I can do is suck it up and contribute to this team. I’m just going to do my part."

Leading 23-21 after one quarter, the Pacers opened the second with an 8-2 burst to take a 31-23 advantage. Scot Pollard recorded the final four points of the surge, capping it with a jumper at the 8:42 mark.

Later in the quarter the Pacers continued to increase their cushion, scoring six straight points midway through to take a 41-28 lead after a pair of O’Neal free throws with 5:03 left until the break.

The Pacers coasted into halftime with a 50-42 lead and continued to build upon their advantage in the third. Still leading by eight, 58-50, 5 1/2 minutes into the half, Davis began a 9-2 run that was capped by a James Jones three- pointer with 4:09 left until the fourth for a 67-52 lead.

Boston closed the quarter by scoring 13 of the final 16 points to draw within 70-65. Pierce scored eight during the run, scoring six of those points from the free throw line.

Indiana point guard Jamaal Tinsley started and played in his first game since February 23, scoring six points and dishing out seven assists. He missed the last 29 regular season games and the first four contest of the playoffs with a bruised left foot.

"I felt good," said Tinsley. "I’m just trying to be out there to help the team. The team doctors told me I was good, so it was up to the coaching staff to put me out there. I got the clearance today."

Anthony Johnson, who started the first four games at point for the Pacers, came off the bench and had seven points, playing with a strained back.

The winner of this series will take on the Detroit Pistons, who closed out the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night...Boston’s only two leads came early in the game, 4-2 at the 9:33 mark of the first and 5-4 30 seconds later...The Celtics are 23-7 in best-of-seven playoff series in their history...Pacers can win a postseason series for the first time in franchise history after losing Game 1.