Jordan scores 30, but Reggie's 28 delivers another win for Indiana, sending Washington four games below .500 again.

Michael Jordan and Reggie Miller played to a standoff, but the Pacers dominated the Wizards.

by Fred Schiebel, Head Writer
 
INDIANAPOLIS -- No back-to-back 50 point games were in the cards, much to the chagrin of Pacer fans.

Still, Michael Jordan did not disappoint, scoring 30 points in a 109-102 loss to the Indiana Pacers Thursday night. The defeat dropped the Wizards down to 12-16, as the team's quest to get back to .500 remained ever elusive.

"I believe we'll eventually get there again," Jordan said. "Coming back I knew we would probably have a rough start. If we keep our head down and producing the effort it takes night after night, I'm confident we can accomplish that goal."

His former 20th century playoff adversary Reggie Miller, not much of a factor in their first meeting, contributed much more in this one. He scored 28 points, included four of seven three point attempts.

"There was a lot of talk after the last game about me not showing up, so I made sure I wouldn't hear none of that after tonight," he said with a smile.

The Pacers broke the game open in the third quarter, during which they scored 36 points to finish with a sixteen point lead by period's end, 78-62. Most of the damage was done by a 14-0 run in the first four minutes, as the Wizards had no answers on either offense nor defense. Reggie Miller scored fourteen of his 23 points in the quarter to lead Indiana to the comfortable advanatage.

"He got really hot, and when you let that happen, you pay the price," Jordan said.

Jordan stayed in the game at the start of the fourth to try to whittle away the big lead. Washington got it down to eleven almost midway through the period, on one of his slicing drives to the basket. Indiana responded right away however, but Jordan stayed in until the 2:27 mark despite the Wizards still being down fifteen. Surprisingly it was then that Washington made their biggest run, with Hubert Davis and Chris Whitney hitting two three pointers each, cutting the score to 105-99 with 20.5 seconds remaining.

"There was a little bit of a light at the end," Doug Collins said. "Not so bright, but we could see something."

Tyronn Lue intentionally wrapped up Jamaal Tinsley, fouling out of the game and reducing the potency of their long range attack. Tinsley hit one of two foul shots, then Whitney came right down to hit another three, chopping the lead down to five with 16.1 seconds to go. That was the last time Washington would score, another comeback here all for naught.

Jalen Rose, who dominated with 38 points in the first meeting against Jordan, scored only 21 this time, going 8 of 19 from the field. Jermaine O' Neal had 12 points and seven rebounds.

For the Wizards, Hubert Davis did another good Richard Hamilton impersonation, scoring 19 points in the Wizards' starting shooting guard's absence. Once again Courtney Alexander was remarkably potent as a reserve, scoring 18 points and missing only two of his ten shots. Tyronn Lue contributed another 16 points and five assists off the bench.