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Jackson sparks Pacers down Pistons
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-05 15:30

Just by playing, Stephen Jackson showed the Pacers the toughness they needed to beat Detroit. Jackson shook off a recent injury that sent him to the hospital to score 20 points and grab seven rebounds, and Indiana upset the rival Pistons 93-85 Saturday night.


The Indiana Pacers' Stephen Jackson, left, tries to excite the crowd as he walks down the court with the Detroit Pistons' Tayshaun Prince with the Pacers in the lead during the third quarter of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2006. The Pacers won, 93-85. [AP]

The Pacers won their second in a row after a six-game losing streak.

Richard Hamilton led the Pistons with 31 points, shooting 14-for-24, and Rasheed Wallace added 17 points.

Jackson was hospitalized with a bruised hip and scraped elbow after a scary fall in Wednesday's game against the Los Angeles Lakers. A further examination showed no fractures and he was released from the hospital early Thursday. He was questionable for Saturday's game but started and played 39 minutes.

"I told myself that as long as I'm able to run a little bit and I'm feeling better than I did in practice I was going to play," he said. "I wanted to play. That was my mind-set. If I could walk, I could play."

Jackson surprised Indiana coach Rick Carlisle.

"I wasn't convinced that there was any way Steve Jackson could play tonight after the fall he took on Wednesday," Carlisle said. "I went and saw him at the hospital after the game and he was in a lot of pain."

Reserve center David Harrison scored 15 points and guard Fred Jones scored nine of his 13 in the fourth quarter for the Pacers, who used a 59-44 rebounding advantage to win the first meeting this season between the Central Division rivals. The rebounding edge allowed the Pacers to get away with shooting 39 percent from the field.

"Beating a team like Detroit is good," Jackson said. "It's showing that we're starting to get some identity and showing that we can win tough games and we can play with the best."

Detroit's NBA-best record dropped to 39-7 with its second loss in the last four games. The Pistons beat Philadelphia on Friday night, but the rested Pacers hadn't played since Wednesday.

"You've got a team that had three days off playing against a team that played four games in five days, in four different cities, and a back-to-back situation," Detroit coach Flip Saunders said. "They played with a great amount of energy and they carried that energy to a win."

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