INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- The last time he faced the New York Knicks, Indiana Pacers forward Jermaine O'Neal was contained until it mattered most. This meeting, the Knicks had no success stopping him at all.
O'Neal had a season-high 27 points and 11 rebounds before sitting out the fourth quarter as the Pacers won their seventh straight game, 93-70 over the Knicks.
Ron Artest added 21 points and five steals for Indiana, which is on its longest winning streak since a nine-game tear from November 2-22, 2002.
"We understand each other more now," O'Neal said of himself and Artest. "We deal with each other a lot more off the court now. We talk a lot when we're here, and I think he understands that I want to win and I want the best for him, and he wants to win and wants the best for me. We're on the same page."
"We may be the one-two punch, but it's not just that," Artest said. "We feed off of each other."
The Pacers own the best record in the NBA, matching their best start since entering the NBA in 1976.
"We got off to this fast start last year and kind of bottomed out," Pacers guard Reggie Miller said. "We think we learned from that and are going to do something different this year."
The Pacers scored the game's first eight points and led thereafter. O'Neal - who scored his only points of the second half in a 95-94 win over the Knicks on November 15 on a follow shot with three seconds left - had 12 points in the first quarter as Indiana built a 26-19 advantage. New York got no closer than three points early in the second quarter before the Pacers pulled away.
"O'Neal and Artest are real rising stars in this league. They're very aggressive and tough to defend," Knicks coach Don Chaney said. "Defensively they were very aggressive from the start. They're a good team and they really take it to you, especially early when we got down - the window wasn't open for us offensively because of their defense."
O'Neal, who added four points in the second period to help the Pacers build a 52-40 halftime lead, scored 11 points in the third quarter as they opened up a 78-59 cushion.
"We were hopeful taking a 19-point lead into the fourth quarter, we could keep some guys fresh for tomorrow night (vs. Philadelphia)," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "There were a lot of positives. We're happy with the win."
Kurt Thomas had 12 points and nine rebounds to pace New York, which committed 24 turnovers as it had a season-high three-game winning streak snapped. Allan Houston, who picked up two early fouls, had only eight points on 2-of-9 shooting for the Knicks, who shot 35 percent (23-of-65).
"That obviously put us in a bind right away," Chaney said of Houston's two quick fouls. "They present a lot of problems defensively and even with the quickness of their big men, it was tough losing him early."
