O’Neal, Pacers deal Sixers first loss

Rawle Marshall also scored 16 and Al Harrington finished with 14 points and eight rebounds for the Pacers, who beat the Sixers for a third straight time and gave Philadelphia its first loss of the season.

"The defensive energy we had tonight was the best we’ve had all year and we needed it against these guys," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "It shows real unity when you can get 12 guys to commit to the defensive end. That’s why a game like tonight is encouraging."

Danny Granger also had 14 points for Indiana, which used big runs in the second and third quarters to pull away for its second straight victory.

Allen Iverson led the way with 20 points for the Sixers, but he shot just 8- of-22 from the field. Willie Green and Kyle Korver each ended with 14 points for Philadelphia, which had won its first three contests. However, the Sixers were outrebounded, 52-32, on Tuesday.

"We’re a team that likes to get out and run and we can’t do that when you don’t rebound," Iverson said. "You can’t teach it. It’s the same as hustle. You have to want it more than the other team. It’s something we have to address early on here."

The Sixers were within 40-34 with three minutes left in the second quarter, but the Pacers went on an 11-2 spurt to end the half. Harrington started the spurt with a jam and Stephen Jackson finished it with a layup in the final second.

A 10-2 run early in the third extended Indiana’s advantage to 64-41 after Jackson drained a three-pointer with 6:15 left in the period.

Indiana’s lead stood at 80-55 going into the fourth, and the Sixers never closed under double digits the remainder of the game.

Jamaal Tinsley had 11 points and Jackson scored 10 for the Pacers, who won despite 22 turnovers.

"This was a big team effort," Tinsley said. "We came out and put together 48 minutes. This is the first time we have been able to do that this year."

Andre Iguodala had 10 points and seven boards for Philadelphia.

"We never got into a flow tonight and the boards killed us and made it a long night for us," Korver said. "But it’s only one game. We’re off to a 3-1 start and if you would have told us that we would start out 3-1, we’d have a positive attitude."

The Sixers scored six in a row during the first quarter and led 23-20 after 12 minutes.

After Iverson opened the second with a layup, Indiana scored 10 in a row early for a 30-25 lead.

Game Notes

The Sixers went 1-of-7 from three-point range...Jeff Foster had 10 rebounds for Indiana...Indiana was 7-of-18 from beyond the arc...Philadelphia has lost 17 of its last 24 at Indiana.