Mark Price has been taking and making jumpers far too long to let a couple of bad quarters get him down.
"You've got to keep shooting. That's one of my theories," Price said Sunday after he scored seven of his 21 points in overtime as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Indiana Pacers 107-103.The Cavaliers extended their winning streak - and Indiana's losing streak - to four games. Cleveland has won its last 10 meetings with the Pacers.
Price, harassed by Vern Fleming and Haywoode Workman all afternoon, made just 2-of-11 shots through the first three quarters.
But at the end, he was superb, sinking 4-of-5 attempts in the fourth quarter and overtime, the only miss coming when he hit the right side of the backboard on a drive with less than two seconds left in regulation.
"I think Mark was trying to decide if he should go in and lay it up, or shoot a floater off the glass, or pull up for a jumper," coach Mike Fratello said. "It was just one of those things. Is there anybody here who would not like Mark Price to get that kind of look at the basket? Mark has a huge heart."
Price had put the Cavaliers ahead 93-91 when he drove around Antonio Davis for a layup with 23 seconds left in regulation, but Fleming's short bank shot with six seconds to play sent it to overtime.
Indiana built a 100-96 advantage on Reggie Miller's 3-pointer with 2:44 to play in the extra period. Price answered immediately with a three-point play that kept it close.
With the score tied at 101, Price pulled up just inside the top of the key and sank a jumper over Workman, putting Cleveland ahead for good with 28 seconds to play.
"I tried to drive, and they stopped that," Price said. "I was able to pick the ball up, and I figured I better shoot it."
Miller was then called for an offensive foul for pushing Bobby Phills on the baseline at the other end, and Price, fouled as he brought the ball upcourt, sank two foul shots to make it 105-101 with 20.7 seconds left.
"You don't take a game away from a team in overtime," Miller said. "That's awful. There are certain things that aren't under our control out there. We played too hard to get back in this game for something like that to happen - not with 20 seconds left when we're down two."
Indiana got no closer. Pacers coach Larry Brown heatedly shouted at the officials as they walked off the court after the game.
"I didn't see anything. I'm not even going to comment on that," Brown said later. "We should have won that game. You can't turn the ball over when you have a chance to win, and we do that."
Brad Daugherty scored a season-high 27 points and Gerald Wilkins 19 for Cleveland. Price had 16 assists.
Dale Davis matched his career high with 21 points for Indiana, and he grabbed 18 rebounds. Rik Smits scored 16 and Miller 15.