Felton, Bobcats steal one against Pacers

Raymond Felton posted 16 points and 13 assists and Matt Carroll scored 15 points, all in the fourth quarter for the Bobcats, who have won two in a row and three of their last four games.

Jermaine O’Neal had a game-high 30 points and also grabbed eight boards and Stephen Jackson and Peja Stojakovic each netted 18 for the Pacers, who had a three-game winning streak snapped and have lost nine consecutive road games.

Indiana fell a half-game behind the Milwaukee Bucks, who are playing the Atlanta Hawks, and the idle Washington Wizards in the race for the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Tied at 91 in the extra session, Felton stole an Anthony Johnson pass and fed the ball to Alan Anderson, who was fouled and hit one at the charity stripe for a 92-91 edge with 59 ticks remaining.

The Pacers had two chances to a win the game on O’Neal’s jumper in the paint and Johnson’s three-point attempt but both rimmed out.

Johnson’s bucket extended the lead to 77-69 with nearly 6 1/2 minutes to play in the fourth quarter, but the Bobcats scored nine straight points to take a 78-77 lead.

Indiana led 83-79 on Jackson’s layup with 1:17 remaining, but Carroll drained a three to narrow the gap to one with under a minute on the clock. Johnson hit 1-of-2 at the line before Brezec sent the game to overtime with an offensive rebound and layup.

Jackson’s jumper with the time running down gave Pacers a 21-18 lead after 12 minutes of play.

David Harrison’s dunk evened the score at 27, but Charlotte reeled off a 16-4 spurt, highlighted by Felton’s trey to begin the run, to move in front 43-31. The Bobcats led 47-35 at the half.

The Pacers opened the third period with a 24-6 burst, including eight points apiece from Stojakovic and O’Neal, to grab a 59-53 margin. O’Neal’s layup began the rally and his free throw with 7:24 remaining in the stanza tied the game at 53.

Charlotte shot 3-of-16 from the field and drained their last field goal of the third quarter at the 7:58 mark. Indiana outscored Charlotte 30-12 in the third period and led 65-59.

Game Notes

Pacers guard Jamaal Tinsley sat out the game with a sprained right Achilles’ tendon suffered before Friday’s game against Minnesota...Indiana has won six of the last eight meetings...Charlotte is 4-4 in overtime...Felton scored in double figures for 17th straight game.