Pacers continue chase with fourth straight win

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – The Indiana Pacers have often repeated the maxim of staying in the fight, which as of late has taken on the meaning of the playoff race.

Just when the Pacers' fingertips nearly slipped from a Friday night matchup against the Detroit Pistons – and inside different arenas, the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets were throwing haymakers at Indiana's postseason hopes – the veterans stepped in and slugged back.

At least for another day, the Pacers can legitimately believe they still have a shot for a playoff seed after capturing their fourth straight game, a 107-103 victory over Detroit.

The win improved Indiana to 36-43 while also allowing the team to hold steady in sole possession of the ninth position, just outside the playoff picture only one game behind the seventh-seeded Celtics (37-42) and eighth-seeded Nets (37-42).

"We know that these teams are both playing really well. We're going to need some help along the way and just control what we can. Stay in the fight," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "That's what we're trying to do; that's what we did in the game tonight.

"Our whole season, this game, it's all about staying in the fight and giving ourselves a chance, and that's all we can do."

While the Pacers were trying not to fall inside the Palace of Auburn Hills while down six points in the fourth quarter, Boston dispatched the Cleveland Cavaliers with a 99-90 win and Brooklyn crushed the Washington Wizards 117-80.

Both teams own the tiebreaker, so Indiana needs the two higher seeds to start crumbling. Even more pressing, the Pacers simply must win – that's why their 91-85 deficit with 7:18 remaining in the game was a troubling sign.

However, C.J. Miles (9-of-17 shooting, 3-of-5 from the 3-point arc) countered with a pair of 3s and Rodney Stuckey hit two critical jump shots to pull the Pacers ahead. The pair shared game-high honors with 24 points each.

"It's pretty much the story of our season," Miles said. "Finding ways to win games. Finding ways to stay together. We knew it was going to be tough game coming in here."

Also, in crunch time, the Pacers made two smart decisions that can be expected of a roster familiar with playing well late in the season.

While leading 97-96 with 3:02 remaining, the Pacers intentionally fouled Pistons center Andre Drummond, a .396 percentage free throw shooter. The plan worked perfectly as Drummond missed both, and then on the next play, George Hill recognized how Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson had to defend Stuckey. And really, "defend" is a stretch considering that Jackson had five fouls and needed to be careful as to not pick up a sixth. So Hill swung the ball to Stuckey for the isolation play, and after his step-back jumper over Jackson, the Pacers moved ahead by three points.

"Both foul situations helped us," Vogel said. "Reggie Jackson being in foul trouble and trying to go at him and ultimately fouling him out, we scored on him a few times… and also putting Drummond to the line. Their big lineup was hurting us, so we earned a possession there but forced them to change their style of play."

Later, as the Pacers gripped a 101-99 lead, Hill attacked Jackson, drew the foul and ended the night of the Pistons' leading scorer. Hill made six free throws within the final 90 seconds of the game and finished with 13 points.

"We needed to go at (Jackson) a little bit and we did that and tried to post him up to get another foul," Hill said. "We just tried to make plays, tried to use our experience to get us over that hump."

As the Pacers made 20-of-22 free throws, Detroit missed six during the fourth quarter and only hit 12-of-23 from the line overall.

"I thought we played pretty hard and did some really good things offensively," Pistons coach Steve Van Gundy said, "but our inability to make wide open shots and free throws (ended) up getting us beat."

Call Star reporter Candace Buckner at (317) 444-6121. Follow her on Twitter: @CandaceDBuckner.