The Indiana Pacers started strong and held on with all of their might to secure a 111-107 win over the Dallas Mavericks.

The Pacers did plenty good on both ends to win this game, but their defensive effort stands out. Yeah, I know they gave up 107, but in case you haven't noticed, the Mavs have some weapons. In the first half, the Pacers defended the pick and roll as well as they're capable. They played excellent team defense, not allowing the drive and dish. At one point early in the game, Devin Harris had been flustered into so many bad plays that Avery Johnson pulled Harris and stared a hole through him as he walked to the bench.

Other thoughts on the game:

• After leading by nine at the half, the Pacers had to endure an offensive onslaught as the Mavs made their patented run. The Mavs were getting fouled or scoring nearly every time down court. Making a comeback is a lot easier when you make free throws. The Mavs made 32 free throws in a row. Fortunately, they missed a couple down the stretch.
• In the end, the fouls were even,literally, 28 fouls a piece. But, with Bennett Salvatore in the house you knew things would be interesting. Salvatore recently sat down for a lengthy interview with Henry Abbott at True Hoop. This post explains the beef the Mavs have with Salvatore. As the game tightened up, a second foul call that resulted in a side out instead of shots for the Mavs set Avery Johnson off. He earned his two Ts and ejection, but continued to go after Salvatore. Looked like Avery had been waiting for this moment since the 2006 Finals and he got his money's worth. Since Avery went after Salvatore after being tossed, it will be interesting to see if he'll be suspended or at least fined. I'm quite sure Stephen Jackson or Ron Artest would've been down for a week, but then again, Avery has a little better track record.
• All fouls are not doled out equally, though. For one, Dirk Nowitzki shook a couple of defenders and went in for a dunk, only to be met by a sweet block by David Harrison. Replays confirmed the complete leather stuffing of Dirk. But, call goes to the star.
• Jamaal Tinsley was the story for the Pacers. He is really into it, playing with such confidence. He made a living in the post taking the Maverick guards down low to drop off his aresenal of jump hook bank shots. A few of those buckets were huge as the Mavs became a tough stop in the third quarter. After one sweet move that ended with a nice runner, Quinn Buckner exclaimed, "Shake 'em up, Jamaal!"
• In the first half, things were going so well for the Pacers that Troy Murphy was credited with a 3-ball even though he was a good foot inside the 3-point line. Reb Porter gave the "Home Run!" call and the Mavs called a timeout. I ran it back to make sure I saw what I thought I saw and figured the points would be adjusted after the timeout. But, no, the points stuck and there was no mention of it on the broadcast.
• At the half, we learned some humorous tidbits about Marquis Daniels. For one, he has bought his mom a home and car. Apparently his mom is a huge Ludacris, so the plates on her car say, LUDAFAN. Quis has to do some more to get some dap from mom.
• Jeff Foster deserves credit for a great effort on an extremely tough game that had him guarding Dirk Nowitzki all night. Foster held Dirk to 6 of 14 from the field and 20 points.
• Danny Granger had what seemed like a routine 25 point outing. A few nice finishes around the hoop in there, too. Troy Murphy scored 18 and had several strong moves inside. At one point, he and Nowitzki had a bit of a tussle after swapping hard fouls. No one was backing down on either team. It was really a tough, hard-fought game by both teams. The fact that the Pacers won a game like this is simply magnificent.