Jermaine O'Neal plays better against the Cavaliers than Shaquille O'Neal.

Last April, in his previous visit to Gund Arena, O'Neal lit up the Cavs for a career-high 30 points. He did even better last night, scoring 38 points to lead Indiana to a 109-103 win over the host Cavs before a crowd of 12,449.

``There's something about this building,'' Pacers coach Isiah Thomas said. ``The rims look as wide as an ocean to him.''

That would be the Pacific Ocean. O'Neal shot 15-of-20 from the floor and 8-of-9 from the foul line. If Gund ever opens a Hall of Fame, he might see his picture on the wall.

``Gund Arena, I guess is now my best arena,'' said O'Neal, a 6-foot-11 forward. ``It's the arena I like the most.''

O'Neal did more than just torture the Cavs with his offense. When the Cavs, who had trailed by 13 midway through the fourth quarter, made a frantic run to cut the deficit to 103-100, O'Neal blocked a Bryant Stith layup with 28 seconds left. Stith had rebounded a missed 3-pointer by forward Jumaine Jones.

The Cavs still wouldn't go away. They got within 105-103 on a 3-pointer by Stith with 4.8 seconds left. But Pacers forward Jalen Rose iced the game by hitting two foul shots with 3.8 seconds left.

Stith keyed the Cavs' comeback with 10 points in the final six minutes. He hadn't played at all before that point.

``If I knew he was going to play like that, I would have started him,'' Cavs coach John Lucas said.

It was a game where several of Lucas' decisions didn't pan out quite the way he would have liked. He held center Zydrunas Ilgauskas out the entire first half, because Lucas wanted to save his minutes for the second half. But Ilgauskas, who is playing a limited number of minutes as he returns from off-season foot surgery, couldn't save the Cavs.

Lucas tried everything against O'Neal. He double-teamed him. He used Chris Mihm, Brian Skinner and Ilgauskas on him, but they all faltered.

``We had no answer for Jermaine O'Neal,'' Lucas said. ``He just wore us out.''

About the only thing O'Neal didn't do was rebound, grabbing only four. In his previous big game at Gund, O'Neal had 20 boards.

But there weren't all that many rebounds to be had last night. The Pacers shot 61.4 percent and the Cavs 50 percent.

``When a team shoots 60 percent, it's tough to win no matter what percentage you shoot,'' Jones said.

The Pacers (16-13) looked as if they were going to shoot the Cavs (11-16) out of the building in the first half. They were well better than 60 percent in taking a 42-28 lead early in the second.

The Cavs, though, battled back to cut the deficit to 56-52 at the half. Then, with the Pacers leading 64-60 with 8:33 left in the third quarter, they unveiled their secret weapon.

When Ilgauskas, who one year ago yesterday broke his left foot for the latest time, entered the game, the fans chanted, ``Z, Z, Z.'' But Ilgauskas, playing his fourth game in five nights, looked a bit worn down, and shot just 1-of-6 for seven points in 15 minutes.

``Z wasn't as big of a factor as he has been,'' said Lucas, who, by playing Ilgauskas 23 minutes Friday at Miami, only could use him for about 16 on the second night of a back-to-back situation.

The Cavs never were able to get the lead in the second half. They trailed 99-86 with 5:13 left before the frantic run spurred by Stith.

Guards Andre Miller and Wesley Person had 20 points apiece for the Cavs. Mihm added 19 points.

The Cavs were hurt offensively by having to play the final 1 1/2 quarters without forward Lamond Murray. He suffered a back strain with 5:33 left in the third quarter and didn't return. X-rays were negative.

``It's muscular,'' Murray said. ``We'll get treatment (today) and take it from there. It's day-to-day.''

The Cavs are now thankful it will be more than 100 days before O'Neal's next Gund appearance April 16.