Indiana surges with 14-2 run to open second half

— -- INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- After three days off to contemplate two straight losses, the Indiana Pacers were in no mood to lose their third in a row for the first time this season. Al Harrington and Reggie Miller made sure that didn't happen. Harrington had 24 points and six rebounds, and Miller's shooting in the third quarter buried the Phoenix Suns in Indiana's 101-79 victory on Wednesday night. "We lost two in a row, that's not acceptable," Ron Artest said. "We did a few more things better tonight than we have done lately." The well-rested Pacers took out their frustrations on the road-weary Suns. Indiana broke the game open with a 14-2 run in the first four minutes of the second half to take a 66-46 lead. Miller then hit three straight 3-pointers to give Indiana a 27-point lead, turning the remaining 17 minutes into garbage time. "He went on one of his runs with shot making," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "That was the difference in the game." Miller scored 15 points in the quarter and was 4-for-4 from 3-point range. He finished with 18 points, including five 3-pointers, in just 19 minutes. "We kind of fell apart in the third quarter," Phoenix center Jake Voskuhl said. "They pulled ahead and that was all she wrote." Joe Johnson had another strong game for the Suns, scoring 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Johnson got off to a slow start with Ron Artest guarding him, but scored 11 in the fourth quarter with Artest on the bench. Johnson is averaging 21 points in 13 games since Phoenix traded Stephon Marbury to New York. The Suns are in the middle of a five-game road trip and were playing for the second time in as many nights. They simply couldn't match the Pacers' energy. "They looked like they had three days off and we played last night, which was the case, obviously," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. The game was relatively close midway through the second quarter when Harrington took over. He scored 10 points, including eight in a row, to help the Pacers take a 52-44 halftime lead. Harrington has been playing almost the entire season with a sore knee. He said he will have an MRI on the knee on Thursday, but doesn't believe it's serious. He looked fine on Wednesday, hitting several tough turnaround jumpers and providing a boost on both ends of the floor. "Tonight was one of those nights where it really hurt," Harrington said. "I just played through it." Artest played his fifth game in a row with a sprained left thumb. Pacers officials worried that he had torn ligaments in the thumb and would need surgery, but an MRI showed the thumb was sprained. Artest played the first half with the thumb on his non-shooting hand heavily wrapped and padded and went 1-for-7. At halftime, Artest took the padding off and played with just tape. He looked much more comfortable shooting in the second half, finishing with 14 points, seven assists and three steals. Taking the pad off gave him more freedom and didn't cause him any more pain, Artest said. Jermaine O'Neal had 13 points and seven rebounds and Fred Jones added 12 points and four steals for the Eastern Conference-leading Pacers. Shawn Marion added 16 points and seven rebounds for the Suns. Phoenix committed 23 turnovers and lost for the fourth time in five games. "When you have dead legs and your brain is a little dead, that stuff is going to happen," D'Antoni said.