Indiana breaks out of its shooting slump and Boston reverts to some bad habits in Game 2 of the opening-round playoff series.

01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, April 26, 2005

BY CAROLYN THORNTON
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- The Boston Celtics knew they'd be seeing a very different Indiana Pacers team last night than the one that took the floor on Saturday.

They knew the chances were very slim that Jermaine O'Neal and Reggie Miller, who managed just seven points apiece in Indiana's 102-82 loss to Boston in game one, would both have another off night.

The Celts also knew they probably couldn't count on the Pacers giving up another 27 points on 22 turnovers.

They were right on all counts. They just didn't have enough answers to counter what Indiana brought to the table last night.

Miller rebounded with a 28-point night and Stephen Jackson added another 20, as the Pacers evened the best-of-seven playoff series with an 82-79 victory over the Celtics at a raucous FleetCenter.

"We knew that the Pacers were going to come out with a better effort," said Celts captain Paul Pierce. "The last two games, we really haven't been getting off to great starts and we've been giving them a little bit of confidence, and they fed off it."

Pierce and Antoine Walker broke out of their Saturday night shooting slumps, as Pierce finished with a game-high 33 points (9-for-16), 7 rebounds and 5 assists and Walker chipped in with 19 points and 7 boards.

But Raef LaFrentz, who lit up the Pacers from the outside for 21 points the other night, was 0-for-4 from the field and had just three free throws -- and 6 rebounds -- to show for his efforts.

What's more, after the Celts' second unit accounted for nearly 40 percent of the scoring Saturday, Rivers opted not to use them nearly as much last night, and the reserves contributed just 14 points, including only 6 from Ricky Davis, who was 1-for-8 from the floor.

"I never thought we got in any rhythm offensively," said Rivers. "Give (Indiana) credit. I thought they did a nice job defensively tonight. I didn't think we did a nice job offensively. I thought we went back a little bit to who we were in the past where we had a lot of (isolation plays) instead of moving the ball and then keeping it simple."

Although Pierce and Walker combined for 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the first quarter, the Celtics as a team got off to another slow start offensively, shooting just 36.8 percent from the field.

Their defense wasn't what it was the other night, either, as Boston allowed the Pacers to shoot 64.3 percent and again fell behind early.

Miller, who scored Indiana's first basket off a Jackson steal, already had more points in the first six minutes than he did on Saturday, knocking down his second 3-pointer to help the Pacers out to a 22-11 lead.

Indiana was still on top, 30-22, going into the second quarter, thanks to 16 points from Jackson, but again the Celts turned the tables, shooting 53.3 percent from the floor in the second frame to the Pacers' 31.6 percent.

Trailing, 30-37, after Miller sank a 20-footer at 5:46, Boston went on a 12-3 run sparked by back-to-back layups by Walker.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Walker and Pierce gave Boston its first lead, 42-40.

Miller immediately drove the length of the court for a layup to even the score, then made two free throws, as Indiana scored the last seven points of the quarter.

Anthony Johnson rebounded a 3-point miss by Walker and fired it up to the floor to James Jones, who knocked down a trey at the buzzer to give Indiana a 47-42 lead going into the break.

Boston turned its five-point deficit into a five-point advantage in the third quarter. Pierce poured in 17 points during that stretch, snapping a 64-all tie with a three-pointer, then sinking an 18-foot turnaround jumper to put the Celts up, 69-64.

They were still ahead, 75-68, after Davis made a layup at 8:22 of the fourth, but Boston, which managed just one more field goal the rest of the way, couldn't hold on.

Indiana followed Davis' basket with a 12-3 run. Jackson started the run with a dunk, then tied the score with another, which Johnson followed with a layup to give the Pacers the lead.

Fouled by O'Neal, Pierce only made one free throw. Miller hit a running jumper on Indiana's next possession with 37.1 seconds left, and that's all the Pacers would need to maintain the lead.

After Davis missed a jumper, Pierce rebounded a miss by Johnson at the other end to get the ball back for Boston with 5.4 seconds remaining.

The Celts came out of a timeout, and Gary Payton inbounded the ball to Pierce, who attempted a 27-footer to no avail.

"We stopped executing, stopped running our stuff," said Davis, who slightly injured his hip but says he will be fine. "Guys were hoisting up three's and shooting a lot of jump shots. We weren't taking it to the basket like we usually do."