Mavericks, Pacers level play-offs

Mavs star Nowitzki hits the winning basket with a trademark fadeaway

The Indiana Pacers staged a second-half fightback to see off the Detroit Pistons 92-83 and level their Eastern Conference semi-final at 1-1.

After a heavy defeat in game one, the Pacers were 50-40 down at half-time.

But Reggie Miller sparked a revival with 15 second-half points to silence the defending NBA champions' fans.

And in Wednesday's late game, the Dallas Mavericks bounced back from their game one thrashing to pip Phoenix 108-106 and tie their series at 1-1.

Michael Finley scored 31 points and Dirk Nowitzki added 23 points, 12 rebounds and the game-winning basket with 6.8 seconds remaining to give Dallas victory. The Suns, who have home-court advantage throughout the play-offs thanks to their league-leading regular-season record, saw their hopes of a last-gasp win disappear when Quentin Richardson missed a three-point effort at the buzzer.

"We came in fatigued and wiped out. We made some adjustments," Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said.

We stopped playing at halftime - we played like a bunch of strangers after halftime Detroit's Ben Wallace

"We played against the best team in the NBA. They have home-court advantage. We know they will bounce back."

Amare Stoudemire led Phoenix with 30 points and 16 rebounds, while Canada's Steve Nash, the NBA Most Valuable Player, and Shawn Marion each added 23 points. Marion also had 15 rebounds.

Games three and four are in Dallas on Friday and Sunday.

Back in Detroit, the Pacers were led by Jermaine O'Neal with 22 points, while Jamaal Tinsley added 12 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds.

"J.O. is our go-to guy. He's our franchise guy," Indiana's Stephen Jackson said.

"Anytime we get to a point and the game is close and we need buckets, we know who to go to. He put this team on his back and carried us."

Detroit's Ben Wallace said: "We stopped playing at halftime. We played like a bunch of strangers after halftime.

"It was one of those things that happened. It's not good sometimes to jump out to a big lead."

Games three and four are on Friday and Sunday at Indianapolis.