Pacers Coast Past Cavaliers

May 4, 1999 / 11:48 PM EDT / CBS/AP

The Indiana Pacers will head into the playoffs with a four-game winning streak and the Central Division championship.

Reggie Miller scored 24 points despite sitting out the entire fourth quarter as the Indiana Pacers coasted past the Cleveland Cavaliers 100-78 Wednesday night.

It was a victory the team really didn't need since Indiana clinched the title and the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference when Atlanta lost to Miami 93-79. The fourth quarter was in progress when the Atlanta-Miami game ended.

Related Links

More NBA coverage:

"It is a good thing to hang up another Central Division banner, but we are not done yet. We must continue until we get to where we want to be (a championship," Mark Jackson said.

All 12 Indiana players scored. Reserve Jalen Rose had 16 points and Rik Smits scored 14 for Indiana, which will not learn its playoff opponent until Wednesday night.

"We are about to begin our second season and the last games indicated we are ready to make the move," Rose said. "We want to be the best (in the East) and we didn't get there, but we are champions of the Central Division and now we have to go on."

Smits was also excited over what he has seen from his team over the last week.

"We're feeling pretty good right now. We got a nice little run going these four games," Smits said. "Defensively, we're probably as strong as we've been all year. We really have some good chemistry going, guys helping each other. You don't have to worry that if you get beat, someone isn't going to be there to help."

Cleveland, which had only nine players dressed with Shawn Kemp and Derek Anderson among the missing, trailed by double digits for most of the game after going without a field goal for more than six minutes in the first quarter.

"We were outmatched the whole evening. For us to win, things have to go extemely well for us and things had to go bad for them. They shot the heck out of the ball the whole game," Cleveland's Danny Ferry said.

Reserve Mitchell Butler had 19 points for the Cavaliers, who shot only 33 percent. Bob Sura had 16 points.

"They're doing better. The second unit defense is starting to come around," coach Larry Bird said. "On the offensive end, we're still out of sync. ... Defense and just coming out and playing hard have been the keys the last four games."

Indiana won all three games with Cleveland in the lockout-abbreviated season.

Indiana (33-17) took the lead for good with a 10-point spurt to start an 18-2 run after Cleveland had taken an 11-4 lead. Rose began the run with a jumper, layups by Rose and Smits followed and Indiana led 14-11 following consecutive jumpers by Smits and Miller.

Andrew DeClercq then sank two free throws, but consecutive 3-pointers by Miller and Mark Jackson, followed by a Rose jumper gave Indiana a 22-13 lead before Danny Ferry recorded Cleveland's next basket with 2:40 remaining in the opening quarter.

The Pacers went on to lead 29-17 after one quarter, built it to 15 twice in the second period, held a 50-39 advantage at halftime and took their biggest lead, 91-68, in the fourth quarter.

Notes:It was the last regular season game for the Pacers in Market Square Arena. Indiana will play in the new Conseco Fieldhouse next season. ... Anderson did not dress because of the flu and Kemp was idled by a sprained foot. Corie Blount also did not dress because of a knee injury. ... Cleveland (22-27) ends its season Wednesday at Toronto. ... Chris Mullin made his only shot, a 3-pointer, and finished the season with a franchise record for 3-point accuracy of .465.