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          Pacers deny Mavs their place in history

          Nov 28, 2002

            INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Mavericks owner Mark Cuban bit his lower lip as he walked off the court, wearing a look of dejection and disappointment for the first time since last spring.

            Unbeaten no more, Dallas was denied a spot in the NBA record books Thursday night by an Indiana Pacers team that showed a Thanksgiving Day national TV audience why it has the best record in the East.

            Repeatedly working the ball inside to take advantage of its low-post talent, Indiana got 28 points from Jermaine O'Neal and inspired efforts from Al Harrington, Brad Miller and Ron Artest to defeat the Mavericks 110-98.

            The Pacers prevented Dallas (14-1) from matching the 1948-49 Washington Capitols and 1993-94 Houston Rockets for the best start to a season in NBA history -- 15-0.

            "They could have made history tonight, and I don't think anybody wanted history to be made against us,'' Artest said. "So that probably gave us a little extra boost.''

            Artest scored 20 points, including Indiana's first 10, while Harrington scored 21 on 9-of-12 shooting and Miller added 16 on 7-of-8 shooting.

            O'Neal grabbed 18 rebounds and Artest had 10, helping the Pacers
            to a 54-36 advantage on the boards as Indiana improved the East's
            best record to 12-2.

            "In order to win this game, you're going to have to use everything you have from a strategy standpoint, because they're the best team in the NBA right now,'' Pacers coach Isiah Thomas said before the game.

            The Pacers indeed came up with an effective plan of attack,
            finding ways to get the ball inside no matter what kind of defense
            Dallas was playing.

            "We were very patient against the zone. I thought our execution
            was crisp and solid,'' Thomas said.

            The Pacers went straight to the basket right from the beginning, with Artest scoring their first 10 points -- eight on layups, the other two on free throws after he was fouled underneath.

            Dallas used an 11-2 run to erase an early 10-point deficit and
            take a 24-23 lead, but the Mavericks weren't able to keep the
            momentum. Reggie Miller hit a 3-point shot and then scored on a
            layup off a steal by Artest to make it 47-39.

            After going 7-for-7, Harrington finally missed a shot late in
            the second quarter, but O'Neal was there for the putback that gave
            Indiana a 57-44 lead.

            "We knew we had to be tough inside to beat this team. We controlled the game from start to finish,'' O'Neal said.

            Artest hit a 3-pointer early in the third for a 68-55 lead, and
            O'Neal closed the quarter with an alley-oop dunk off a pass from
            Harrington for an 84-69 lead.

            "We didn't have a lot left in the tank, as you could tell,'' Mavericks coach Don Nelson said.

            Nash had a personal 7-0 run early in the fourth to pull Dallas
            to 88-80, but Dallas then dropped into a tight 2-3 zone and left
            Reggie Miller wide open at the 3-point line for a 24-footer that
            made it 91-80.

            Dallas got no closer than eight the rest of the way.

            "There are only so many statement games in this league, and
            this was one of them,'' Reggie Miller said. "When the rest of your
            peers are watching, you want to play well.''

            Steve Nash led the Mavericks with 29 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki shot just 4-for-20, Finley was 7-for-20 and the Mavericks shot 38 percent, compared with Indiana's 54 percent.

            The Mavericks' unbeaten streak will go down as the
            second-longest to start a season in league history, tied with the
            1957-58 Boston Celtics.

            The Pacers, meanwhile, hope their nationally televised victory
            will start making them as much of a topic of conversation as the
            Mavericks have been lately.

            "We had to make a point,'' Harrington said. "It was a great
            incentive with them being undefeated. They had a little swagger in
            them, but we knocked it off. Definitely.''

            Game notes
            Dallas plans to activate G Nick Van Exel and C Raef
            LaFrentz for Saturday's home game against Chicago. ... Artest
            picked up a technical foul just 29 seconds into the game for
            shoving Finley. ... Reggie Miller was playing his first home game
            of the season. He missed 12 of the Pacers' first 13 games because
            of a sore ankle. ... Attendance was 17,948, about 400 short of a
            sellout. ... For the second straight night, coach Don Nelson gave
            Adrian Griffin an earful after removing him for a missed defensive
            assignment.