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O'Neal, Pacers rout Raptors for third straight win

Jan 28, 2007 - 4:46 AM INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Finally, Jermaine O'Neal looks like he's happy.

O'Neal had 21 points, seven assists and six rebounds and Danny Granger scored 12 of his 18 points in the third quarter as the Indiana Pacers used stellar outside shooting for a 102-84 victory over the Toronto Raptors, their third straight win.

Newcomer Troy Murphy collected eight points and 12 rebounds for the Pacers, who are 3-1 since acquiring Murphy, fellow forwards Mike Dunleavy Jr. and Ike Diogu and guard Keith McLeod in an eight-player trade with Golden State on January 17.

Despite the loss of reliable scorers Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson in the trade, Indiana hopes to foster more chemistry.

"With Al and Jack (Jackson), you had two great offensive players, but they liked to post up a lot," O'Neal said. "That seemed to stack up the offense and make it hard to get shots. I thought it could have worked, but it didn't work in the eyes of Donnie (Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh) and those guys. With the new players, we have guys who can do a lot of different things."

Prior to the trade, O'Neal publicly complained about the team's mediocre play and uncertain direction. After the Pacers shook things up with the big deal, they seem to be heading in the right direction.

"We're starting to play really good together," O'Neal said. "You've got a lot of offensive threats out there. We've got some shooters that keep the defense honest and we've got some guys who can penetrate. We've got a good mix of everything."

O'Neal played well in the post, shooting 6-of-14 from the floor and 9-of-9 from the line, making numerous strong moves to the basket. However, his biggest impact was his passing out of double-teams, setting up his teammates for easy shots.

Granger was 6-of-9 from the field, including 4-of-6 from the arc - all in the third period - for the Pacers, who shot 49 percent (39-of-80) overall and 11-of-22 on 3-pointers.

Dunleavy scored 15 points on 7-of-13 shooting, finally snapping out of his funk.

"It's coming around," Dunleavy said. "My shots aren't necessarily going down, but I'm getting more comfortable out there. I'm making contributions, and it will be really good once I start knocking down some shots."

Trailing by one point entering the third quarter, Indiana scored 63 points in the second half.

"It was a tough night," Mitchell said. "We played (Friday), then got in here at 3:30 in the morning and we just didn't have anything left in the tank. We tried to make them take long jump shots, and they were hitting them. We just didn't have it."

Chris Bosh had 26 points and 12 rebounds and Jose Calderon added 14 and 10 assists for the Raptors, who shot 42 percent (30-of-71) and had their season-high three-game winning streak snapped.