NBA Game Summary - Chicago at Indiana

Indianapolis, IN (Basketball News) - Jermaine O’Neal scored 16 points in his first game action since January 24, as the Indiana Pacers recovered from a poor opening quarter to defeat the Chicago Bulls, 95-85, at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Stephen Jackson led all scorers with 24 points, Anthony Johnson tallied 15 points and Danny Granger added 12 for Indiana, which snapped a two-game skid with the victory. Peja Stojakovic donated 11 points and Jeff Foster grabbed 14 rebounds to go along with five points in the victory.

Having Jermaine back gave us a spiritual lift," said Indiana head coach Rick Carlisle. "And he played really well considering he’s been out two months. We knew he was getting closer to playing. I felt what happened last night had an effect on him. It’s essential we have time to get him re-integrated with the team."

The Bulls bench continued to carry them, as Andres Nocioni sprang for 17 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, Mike Sweetney netted 12 points and Chris Duhon added 11 in defeat. Chicago’s bench scored 48 of the team’s 85 points.

Kirk Hinrich donated 14 points for the Bulls, who dropped their fourth consecutive game and fell for the 16th time in their last 18 trips to Conseco Fieldhouse.

The beginning of the fourth quarter proved to be the difference, helping the Pacers erase the memory of Tuesday’s 105-75 blowout loss to Memphis.

After Duhon converted a layup to start the stanza, Indiana reeled off 15 of the next 17 points to take an 82-74 lead. Jackson scored the first five points then Jamaal Tinsley converted an old-fashion three-point play. Jackson and Stojakovic each scored from in close, and Granger’s three capped the stretch with 6:37 left.

Chicago cut the deficit in half after Nocioni slid into the lane and made a finger roll to make the score 84-80 with 3:16 to play.

The Pacers tallied the next nine points to put the game away. They did their damage from the foul line, scoring the last five points from the stripe. Jackson made three straight free throws to extend the edge to 93-80 with 45 ticks remaining.

Indiana easily held on for the victory from there.

"Offensively, I thought we got a little bit stagnant and they were able to make plays when they had to," said Hinrich. "We couldn’t stop them when it counted."

Chicago dominated the first quarter, using a tenacious defense to stifle Indiana’s offensive attack. The Bulls scored nine straight points midway through the period to take a 21-10 advantage. Sweetney tallied two layups, Ben Gordon drained a trey and Nocioni’s jumper capped the run with 3:17 left.

Earlier in the period, O’Neal entered the game to a rousing ovation with 6:21 left. The forward wasted little time, scoring on a reverse layup with 5:59 left in the first stanza.

O’Neal also drained a pair of free throws to round out the first-quarter scoring, as Chicago held a commanding 27-14 lead.

The Bulls lead was cut to 48-41 at the half, and Chicago only held a 70-67 advantage after three periods.