Pacers Pummel Hornets 133-96

March 27, 1998 / 11:15 PM EST / CBS/AP

Reggie Miller had already done enough damage to Charlotte when he tried to inflict some on Vlade Divac.

Miller made five 3-pointers and scored 24 points Friday night before being ejected for a flagrant foul as the Indiana Pacers defeated the Hornets 133-96.

The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Hornets, who dropped four games behind Indiana in the race for the third playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Rik Smits, questionable before the game because of ailing feet, had 24 points and 13 rebounds, Jalen Rose came off the bench to add 20 points and Antonio Davis scored 17 in Indiana's highest scoring game of the season.

It was Indiana's most productive game since it beat Philadelphia 133-88 in 1994, and the point differential was only one below the worst defeat in franchise history.

"If we come out as the aggressors we usually play pretty well," Indiana coach Larry Bird said. "We were pursuing early. They were going after it."

Miller, who scored Indiana's first nine points as the Pacers led from start-to-finish, was tossed with 5:50 left in the third quarter for a category 2 flagrant foul, which carries an automatic ejection, when he hit Divac with his elbow under the basket.

"A, you can't do that, and B, we're not going to be bullied," Miller said. "It was unfortunate. I really didn't think it was a flagrant type foul, but looking at in here, it looked a lot worse than it was.

"I'm not going to let someone run right through me, especially when they're seven feet, 260 pounds."

David Wesley led the Hornets with 21 points.

Miller hit a pair of 3-pointers in the opening minute, including one that became a four-point play as he was fouled. He had 14 points in the opening quarter when the Pacers outscored Charlotte 36-22.

"We just came out like gangbusters. Reggie hitting those threes, it just got everybody going," said Smits, adding he didn't make up his mind to play until just before the game.

"I came real close to not playing. My feet have really been bothering me," he said. "When I decided to play, it seems the more pain I feel the better I feel."

"Rik was unbelievable," Bird said. "I know he's having a lot of pain. His feet are hurting. He gutted through it and played an awesome game."

Miller had 14 points in the opening quarter and added a 3-pointer on his only shot of the second quarter. Chris Mullin and Smits scored 12 apiece in the first two quarters.

"We just had a bad night," said Wesley. "They played well, made a lot of shots and a lot of hard shots. We just didn't show up to play."

Charlotte, which defeated the Pacers in their two previous meetings this season, trailed 22-11 when Smits sanan 8-foot hook shot. The Hornets never cut their deficit to single digits again and trailed by as many as 40 in the fourth.

The Pacers were 11-of-20 from 3-point range with Miller hitting 5-of-6 attempts. Charlotte was only 3-of-11.

"Everybody on their team was hitting," Charlotte coach Dave Cowens said.

Notes: The 133 points were the most allowed by Charlotte this season. ... The Pacers had a franchise-low four turnovers, the second-lowest total in an NBA game since the inception of the shot clock in 1954. ... Charlotte's Anthony Mason has made 83 of 143 shots from the field in his last 16 games. ... The Hornets had won three straight at Indiana. ... A sellout crowd of 16,611 saw Indiana score its biggest win ever over the Hornets. The previous high came in a 132-105 victory Feb. 26, 1993.