• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Bulls' Gordon hits winning jumper in final seconds

Mar 26, 2007 - 1:25 AM INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Ben Gordon delivered in the clutch for the Chicago Bulls.

Gordon scored 31 points, including the game-winning basket with 2.8 seconds left, as the Bulls edged the Indiana Pacers, 92-90.

The Bulls' leading scorer at 21.3 points per game, Gordon drove to the right of the free-throw line, spun backwards and floated a 12-foot jumper over Mike Dunleavy Jr.

"I was joking with my teammates on the bench," Gordon said. "I said, 'Alright, they missed a chance to win, now watch this next shot, I'm going to go make it." I just love opportunities like that, where I get a chance to help my team win."

"I got a piece of it with my fingernail," Dunleavy added. "You just have to give him credit, he hit a big shot. I played him as well as I could play him. He makes big shots and he he did it again today."

Gordon connected on 13-of-25 shots for Chicago, which has won four of five on the road.

"Ben is as good a go-to guy in this league as any at his position, " Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "Great players make great plays."

Jermaine O'Neal, who led the Pacers with 39 points and 14 rebounds, missed an 18-foot jumper at the buzzer.

"The last shot felt pretty good," O'Neal said. "I had to rush it a bit. I made a move left and didn't get the lift that I wanted."

O'Neal had tied the game, 90-90, with a 12-foot jumper from the left corner with 1:01 remaining. He scored Indiana's last 14 points.

The Pacers had a chance to take the lead, but Jamaal Tinsley missed a short jumper with 15 seconds left.

"It was a good win for us," Bulls forward Luol Deng said. "Another close game. Jermaine got a little bit hot, but we stayed with it. We got the stop that we needed and the shot that we wanted at the end."

The loss knocked Indiana (31-38) one-half game behind New Jersey (32-38) and Orlando (32-38) for the final two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.

"Every loss hurts," O'Neal said. "We have 13 or 14 games left. Every night we lose, we put ourselves a little bit deeper in the hole."

Kirk Hinrich and Deng each had 14 points and Ben Wallace grabbed 14 rebounds for Chicago.

Dunleavy finished with 23 points for the Pacers, who shot 42 percent (32-of-76).