Pacers Continue Their Descent

Indiana’s season continues to unravel quicker than Ron Artest’s temper.

Baron Davis scored 20 points in his first game in six weeks as the New Orleans Hornets beat Indiana, 81-71, Tuesday night at Indianapolis for the Pacers’ fifth loss in a row and 11th in 12 games.

The Pacer locker room was closed for nearly 40 minutes after the game for a team meeting to address concerns about selfishness that have crept into what was a close-knit team.

“Right now, everyone is very self-absorbed in terms of himself, his play, and his performance,” Coach Isiah Thomas said. “When you become very self-absorbed, you don’t think about team.”

The Pacers were playing their first game at home after a disastrous 0-4 West Coast trip. Their problems followed them home, where they were booed by their fans.

The Pacers, specifically Artest and Al Harrington, appeared to have abandoned Thomas’ Quick offense -- a read-and-react system that stresses movement and equal opportunity.

There was little passing Tuesday, as Harrington or Artest would get the ball and either fire up a poor shot or wait until the shot clock ticked down to drive the lane and run into a double team.

“The ball is stopping. It’s not moving anywhere,” Thomas said. “Even when we make a pass on the perimeter, there’s a stop and a hold. Wait and see. There’s no trust to give the ball up and get it back and play together.”

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Washington 106, Orlando 105 -- Tracy McGrady outscored Michael Jordan, 43-23, in their final regular season matchup. The victory, however, went to Jordan.

In a thrilling game between two determined competitors, the Wizards made 30 of 32 free throws at Washington and broke a two-game losing streak.

Jerry Stackhouse, who complained about his role in the offense after Sunday’s loss at New York, scored 31 for the ninth-place Wizards, who desperately needed the win to make up ground in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Jordan matched his career high with nine turnovers, but he made 10 of 18 shots, including a driving layup for Washington’s final field goal to put the Wizards up by three with 25 seconds remaining.

San Antonio 105, Milwaukee 102 -- Malik Rose scored a career-high 34 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter, and Tim Duncan added 25, including four free throws to seal the victory at Milwaukee. Duncan also grabbed 15 rebounds as the Spurs ended the Bucks’ six-game winning streak against them.

San Antonio has won 15 of its last 17.

Portland 92, Seattle 77 -- Rasheed Wallace scored 23 points, Derek Anderson had 18 and reserve Zach Randolph scored nine of his 17 points in the fourth quarter at Seattle. The SuperSonics shot 41% and lost their third straight.

Denver 95, Toronto 87 -- Juwan Howard had 24 points and 11 rebounds as the Nuggets ended a seven-game home losing streak.

Miami 77, Cleveland 75 -- The Heat ended a four-game losing streak despite scoring only 10 points in the fourth quarter at Cleveland.

Memphis 87, New York 85 -- Jason Williams scored 15 points and made the winning shot with 1.4 seconds left at New York.

Golden State 113, Phoenix 98 -- Antawn Jamison had 23 points and 11 rebounds and the Warriors kept themselves in the playoff hunt at Oakland by ending a three-game losing streak.