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Shorthanded Pacers rally for win over 76ers

Dec 21, 2008 - 4:53 AM PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- T.J. Ford buried a game-winning jumper with 3.8 seconds to play to lift the Indiana Pacers to a 95-94 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday.

Ford was able to get Andre Iguodala backing up and then pulled up and connected from 17 feet. Iguodala got into the lane with a spin move on Philadelphia's ensuing possession but was unable to nail his floater over Jeff Foster.

"It was an iso and I tried to get a one-on-one situation," Ford said. "I tried to get a shot up where if it didn't go in, hopefully we could get a tip in or get a rebound and get back up."

Indiana was playing the second game of a back-to-back and was doing it with only nine players.

"It was a great win for us," Indiana coach Jim O'Brien said. "We've had a lot of tough losses. To get one on the road when you are down for the whole game is a great feeling. We're happy with our team."

Danny Granger, Marquis Daniels and Troy Murphy sat out Saturday - as they did in Indiana's 117-109 double-overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night - because they were all hospitalized with flu-like symptoms.

"They're a resilient group. They have given us everything that they have the entire season," O'Brien said. "We've had some adversity with some sickness. Our guys could have won against the Clippers last night but we couldn't pull it out. I was proud of our effort."

Andre Miller had 14 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists for the 76ers, who had a three-game win streak snapped.

The Pacers dressed just nine players and each one saw at least 13 minutes of action.

Indiana reserves Jarrett Jack and Travis Diener each scored 12 points and Josh McRoberts added 10.

Iguodala scored 26 points and added six rebounds and six assists for Philadelphia, which lost for the first time in four games under new coach Tony DiLeo. However, two of Philadelphia's wins during its modest three-game streak came against the Washington Wizards, who have just four wins and are last in the Eastern Conference.

"We stopped moving in the second quarter and stopped running," DiLeo said. "In the first quarter we really got out with energy and in the second quarter we didn't move the ball. We didn't run and we didn't get any fast breaks."

Philadelphia got off to a fast start, taking a 17-6 lead early in the first quarter, but Indiana just kept hanging around.

The Pacers kept whittling away at the lead, sparked by Diener, who scored all 12 of his points in the first half.

The 76ers held a 48-44 lead at the break and were up, 73-69, entering the fourth. Louis Williams' layup off a steal gave Philadelphia a 94-93 lead with 17 seconds to play.

"They were down and they were able to make some big shots. They stayed with their game plan the whole way and once they got back in the game they got their confidence," Iguodala said. "We've got to try to forget about this one. It is a tough loss probably the worst loss all year considering the situation where we had the game."