INDIANAPOLIS -- Rick Carlisle believed his players were being mistreated and made sure the referees knew it.
When Reggie Miller was called for an offensive foul late in the first half Sunday, Carlisle stormed onto the court to protest. The Pacers coach drew two technical fouls and an ejection while Indiana assistant coaches and players restrained him back toward the bench.
The Pacers responded with a 94-80 victory over the Utah Jazz.
''There are going to be disagreements about calls, and I understand the officials have a very tough job out there,'' Carlisle said. ''But I really felt that two of our best players -- Reggie Miller and Jermaine O'Neal -- were not being treated with the respect they deserve out there, and I couldn't stand to watch that. Sometimes, you've got to make a stand."
O'Neal led Indiana with 21 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks.
The Pacers, trailing by four, scored the last five points of the third quarter and finished a 17-2 run by outscoring the Jazz 12-2 over the first five minutes of the final period to take an 11-point lead. Utah never got closer than eight points after that.
O'Neal shot just 4-of-10 from the field but hit 13-of-15 free throws as the Pacers repeatedly went inside in the second half and won for the fifth time in six games.
Al Harrington, starting in place of the injured Ron Artest, scored 14 points, and reserves Austin Croshere and Jonathan Bender added 15 and 11, respectively.
Andrei Kirilenko scored 22 points, and Raja Bell added 21 for Utah, which lost for the fourth time in five games -- including three of four on its road trip.
O'Neal said Carlisle's ploy worked.
''It got the team riled up,'' O'Neal said. ''Sometimes, you've got to kind of step outside the lines a little bit to get the team going. In the second half, we just came right at them and knocked those guys down, and it was hard for those guys to get back up from that.''
The Jazz blamed themselves.
''In the fourth quarter, we lost our concentration,'' Kirilenko said. ''We got a couple mistakes, and they just drag you down, and you start playing six points (behind), then eight points, and you can't get back.''
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said those mistakes were critical against the Pacers.
''You're talking about veteran players that know how to make plays and know how to continue to execute,'' he said. ''When we made a mistake like that, we held our heads down and felt sorry for ourselves. That seems to be a tendency we have a lot of times.''
The game was slowed by 65 fouls, and Utah's Jaron Collins and Michael Ruffin fouled out.
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