INDIANAPOLIS – Jermaine O’Neal had 29 points and 18 rebounds to help the Indiana Pacers beat the Charlotte Bobcats 93-85 on Friday night.
O’Neal was 9-of-17 from the field and 11-of-12 from the line for Indiana, which rebounded from a 122-90 loss in Charlotte on Wednesday night to snap a two-game losing streak.
Kareem Rush led Charlotte with 20 points. He scored a career-high 35 against the Pacers on Wednesday.
Sarunas Jasikevicius gave the Pacers a 70-67 lead, hitting three free throws with 0.2 seconds left in the third quarter after he was fouled on a 3-point attempt.
The Pacers’ defense stiffened in the final quarter, forcing consecutive shot-clock violations early in the period. Charlotte didn’t score for the first 5:02 of the quarter, while the Pacers went on a 9-0 run.
Jasikevicius didn’t play in the first half, but scored 14 points in the final 15:09. The Pacers trailed 63-58 when Jasikevicius replaced starting point guard Jamaal Tinsley in the third quarter. When Tinsley returned, the Pacers led 81-68.
Jasikevicius was 6-of-6 from the line in the final 2 minutes to help the Pacers hold off a late Charlotte rally. The 29-year-old rookie from Lithuania entered the game as the Pacers’ No. 3 point guard.
The Pacers made all 13 of their free throws in the fourth quarter.
Austin Croshere had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Pacers, and Tinsley and Stephen Jackson both scored 12 points.
Emeka Okafor had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Brevin Knight had 14 assists for the Bobcats. Primoz Brezec, a former Pacer, finished with 12 points and six rebounds for Charlotte. Brezec last played for the Pacers during the 2003-04 season.
Notes: Charlotte scoring leader Gerald Wallace missed his firth straight game because of a wrist injury. … Charlotte’s Sean May was booed every time he touched the ball and was cheered when he committed fouls. His father, Scott May played in college at Indiana, but May chose North Carolina over the Hoosiers. May finished with 14 points … Jasikevicius is 22-for-22 from line this season.
AP-ES-11-18-05 2156EST
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