NBA : Pacers rally past Heat, spoil O’Neal’s return

Danny Granger scored 14 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Indiana Pacers rallied from a 20-point second-half deficit to beat the Miami Heat 96-94 Wednesday night in Indianapolis.

The Pacers’ victory spoiled the return of Shaquille O’Neal, who came off the bench after missing 35 games while recovering from knee surgery. O’Neal finished with five points and five rebounds in 14 minutes.

Dwyane Wade, who missed Miami’s victory at New York on Monday because of a sprained left ankle, scored 32 points.

After trailing 65-45 in the third quarter, the Pacers pulled to 70-66 on two 3-pointers by Granger and one by Darrell Armstrong to begin the fourth. Marquis Daniels’ runner 4 minutes later gave Indiana a 75-74 lead, its first since early in the first quarter.

The Pacers built a six-point lead with 1:30 left, but consecutive 3-pointers by Jason Kapono and Wade down the stretch tied the score at 87 with 17 seconds remaining.

Indiana had a chance to take the final shot of regulation, but Armstrong’s pass for Jermaine O’Neal was stolen by Gary Payton with 4.1 seconds left. Wade then missed a long jumper as time expired, sending the game to overtime.

Granger gave the Pacers an early lead in overtime with a three-point play, and Troy Murphy’s jumper extended the edge to 96-92 with 42 seconds left.

Following Jason Kapono’s basket to cut the deficit to 96-94, the Heat got the ball back with 5.4 seconds remaining and called a timeout. With the clock nearing zero, Kapono’s potential game-winning 3-pointer appeared to go in before bouncing back out.

Murphy finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds in his third game with the Pacers after being traded from Golden State.

Raptors 90, Hornets 88: At Toronto, Chris Bosh scored a season-high 35 points, including a tying 3-pointer with 1:01 left, and the Raptors rallied for a victory over New Orleans.

Pistons 103, Bobcats 92: At Charlotte, N.C., Richard Hamilton had 22 points and Rasheed Wallace scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter to help Detroit in a win over the Bobcats.

76ers 118, Cavaliers 115 (2OT): At Cleveland, Andre Iguodala scored eight points in the second overtime and finished with a season-high 34 as Philadelphia handed the slumping Cavaliers an embarrassing loss.

Hawks 82, Celtics 76: At Boston, Joe Johnson and Josh Smith each scored 21 points as Atlanta handed the Celtics their ninth straight loss.

Suns 112, Knicks 107: At New York, Amare Stoudemire scored 26 of his 30 points in Phoenix’s big second half, and the Suns beat the Knicks for their second 15-game winning streak of the season.

The Knicks were without starting point guard Stephon Marbury, who missed his first game of the season because of left knee tendinitis. New York doesn’t know if he will be available Friday night against defending champion Miami.

Grizzlies 132, Jazz 130 (OT): At Salt Lake City, Eddie Jones beat the buzzer with a 22-foot jump shot and Memphis ended a 10-game road losing streak by beating Utah.

Rockets 90, Spurs 85: At San Antonio, Tracy McGrady scored 37 points to lead Houston to a victory over the Spurs.

Kings 114, Bucks 106: At Sacramento, Calif., Ron Artest scored 36 points and the Kings led from the start in a victory over slumping Milwaukee.

Trail Blazers 101, Timberwolves 98 (OT): At Portland, Zach Randolph had 22 points, 15 rebounds, and two key free throws at the end as the Trail Blazers spoiled Randy Wittman’s first game as Minnesota’s interim head coach with a victory.

Warriors 110, Nets 109: At Oakland, Calif., Monta Ellis hit a 17-foot jumper at the buzzer, and Golden State rallied from an 11-point deficit in the final 4 1/2 minutes to stun New Jersey.