Jackson's Actions Lifts Pacers

Mark Jackson posted up Brevin Knight and posted some big numbers Thursday night.

Jackson, taking advantage of a mismatch against the smaller Knight, had 15 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists and Rik Smits added 20 points as the Indiana Pacers won their fifth straight, 81-74 over the cold-shooting Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night.

The 6-foot-3 Jackson backed the 5-10 Knight down at will in the second half, scoring on short turnarounds or kicking the ball out to open teammates.

"Mark's a great post-up point guard," said Knight, who had the same problem with 6-7 Chris Mullin when the Pacers beat the Cavs earlier this month. "He's going to stay at it, and stay at it until he gets what he wants."

It seemed like Indiana ran the same play the entire second half. The Pacers would clear one side of the floor for Jackson, who after getting the ball, would begin a slow, backwards attack at the basket.

If one of Knight's teammates would come over and try to help him, Jackson would find the open man. And when Knight was left alone to defend Jackson, all he could do was hope Jackson would miss his shot.

Jackson denied the Pacers offense was that single-minded.

"We didn't make any special changes," he said. "We just got more aggressive in the second half and made shots."

Cleveland, which dropped its third in a row, scored 27 points in the second half and had just one field goal in the final 7:18 -- Johnny Newman's layup with 5.4 seconds eft.

The Cavs missed 10 straight field-goal attempts down the stretch and went 8-for-35 from the field in the second half. They shot just 38 percent for the game.

"If a lot of those shots were with a guy in our face and a hand challenging it, then that's one thing," said Cavs coach Mike Fratello. "But these were open shots, you've got to make shots. Bottom line is you can pass, pass, pass but when you miss, it doesn't work."

Shawn Kemp led the Cavs with 16 points but didn't hit a field goal after halftime, going 0-for-8 and went just 3-for-13 from the field. Vitaly Potapenko had 13 points and nine rebounds for Cleveland.

"They put me on the floor every time I got the ball inside," said Kemp, who did make all 10 of his free throws. "It's a tough matchup because they have so many big men."

Indiana trailed 69-66 with 7:18 to go, but a basket by Smits and Jalen Rose's free throw tied it with 6:24 left.

With the Pacers ahead 73-72, Jackson again exploited Knight and knocked down a short jumper for a three-point lead. Cleveland missed its eighth straight shot on its next possession, and after Derek Anderson was called for an offensive charge, Chris Mullin's 3-pointer from the corner put Indiana ahead 78-72 with 30 seconds remaining.

With Smits and Jackson scoring eight points apiece, the Pacers took a 60-52 lead with 5:47 left in the third quarter on Smits' 19-foot jumper. But the Cavs responded with an 11-2 run to take a 63-62 lead on Sura's 3-pointer with 11 seconds left in the period.

Before Sura's basket, the Cavs had been outscored 48-0 from behind the 3-point line in the last two games. Detroit made 11 3-pointers in beating Cleveland on Wednesday night and Indiana hit five in the first half.

Notes

• Jackson's triple-double was the 15th of his career and the first against Cleveland since Scottie Pippen on Nov. 9, 1995.
• Miller's dunk with three minutes left in the third was Indiana's only basket in the period by someone other than Smits or Jackson.
• Wesley Person missed his third straight game for Cleveland with a bruised right elbow.
• The Cavs started off well, making their first seven field-goal attempts.
• Cleveland and Chicago remain the only teams not to score 100 points in a game this year.