Pacers Surprise the Trail Blazers

A night after losing by 11 at Seattle, the Indiana Pacers staged one of the most impressive overnight turnarounds in the NBA this season.

Jalen Rose scored 22 points and Dale Davis had 15 points and 12 rebounds as the Pacers held on to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers, 93-91, Monday night at Portland.

Scottie Pippen had a chance to tie in the frantic final seconds, but his jumper went off the back of the rim with about eight seconds left. The Blazers had one more chance, but an inbounds pass was knocked away and picked up by Indiana’s Reggie Miller.

Miller scored 15 points but shot only two of 11 from the field. The previous night, he was one of nine, with a season-low six points in a loss at Seattle.

Rasheed Wallace had 20 points and 11 rebounds for Portland.

Damon Stoudamire made a short baseline jumper to make it 92-91 with 14.7 seconds left. Rose was fouled immediately, and made one of two to end the scoring.

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Houston 118, Vancouver 110--Rookie Steve Francis, returning to the city he snubbed, had 24 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds to lead the Rockets past the Grizzlies in overtime at Vancouver, Canada. Francis, who refused to sign with the Grizzlies after they made him the No. 2 overall pick in the June draft, played a sensational game before a taunting crowd of 15,086 that threw objects at him and cursed him. Also, Rocket center Hakeem Olajuwon was placed on the injured list Monday and will miss at least three weeks because of a groin strain.

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Utah 115, Golden State 99--Karl Malone scored 27 points, passing Michael Jordan for third place on the NBA career scoring list, as the Jazz defeated the Warriors at Salt Lake City.

Malone made narrowly missed a triple double with 10 assists and eight rebounds. He now has 29,299 points, trailing only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) and Wilt Chamberlain (31,419). Jordan finished his career with 29,277 points.

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Miami 98, Sacramento 88--Jamal Mashburn scored 22 points on his 27th birthday, and P.J. Brown added 18 as the Heat ended the Kings’ eight-game winning streak with a victory at Miami.

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New York 107, Dallas 82--Charlie Ward made seven three-point baskets, tying the most in the NBA this season, and scored a career-high 25 points as the Knicks blew out the Mavericks at New York.

Around the League

Dee Brown re-injured his left knee during a scrimmage on his 31st birthday. Brown had arthroscopic surgery on the knee Oct. 15 and missed the team’s first six games. His status for today’s game against the Atlanta Hawks will be determined before the game.