Indianapolis ? It took only five seconds for Ron Artest to get himself in trouble again. It’ll likely be much longer before he plays again.

Artest committed his eighth flagrant foul of the season just seconds after tipoff, then scored 18 points as the Indiana Pacers cruised to a 102-72 victory Wednesday over the Boston Celtics.

Artest now faces a two-game suspension, though he again insisted he wouldn’t change the aggressive way he plays.

“As long as I don’t hurt nobody, I’m happy,” Artest said.

The Pacers desperately needed the win, only their third in the last 16 games. They finished the season series against Boston tied 2-2 and moved within one game of second place in the Eastern Conference.

Boston’s Paul Pierce went up for a layup after the opening tip and was slapped hard on the head from behind by Artest.

“I don’t think they’re picking on me, but I don’t think it was a flagrant,” Artest said.

Artest has been suspended twice already for exceeding the maximum number of flagrant-foul points. If the league doesn’t rescind the foul, he will miss Friday’s game against Memphis and Saturday’s against Atlanta. He won’t return until next Wednesday against Philadelphia.

“I don’t know how the league thinks,” he said.

Artest stayed in the game and helped the Pacers roll to their second blowout win in a week. Reggie Miller scored 11 of his 13 points in the first quarter and Artest added seven as the Pacers opened a 16-point lead.

Artest continued to show why he’s so valuable to the Pacers. He deflected passes, came up with a couple of steals and held Pierce to 4-for-14 shooting.

Late in the fourth, Artest picked up a loose ball and drove toward the basket when he was grabbed around the waist by Bimbo Coles. Coles was whistled for a clear-path foul as the crowd howled for a flagrant.

Artest just smiled and shook his head as he sank a free throw. Artest said he slowed down as he approached the basket because he thought Coles was coming to hack him.

Jermaine O’Neal had 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Pacers.

Boston forward Paul Pierce (34) is fouled by Indiana forward Ron Artest, right. Artest was called for a flagrant foul on the play. The Pacers won, 102-72, Wednesday in Indianapolis.

Antoine Walker led Boston with 18 points and Pierce, who sprained his left ankle in Tuesday’s loss at New Jersey, added 14. The Celtics shot 28 percent in the first half and missed 15 of 20 shots in the second quarter.

“If we keep this up in the playoffs, we won’t be around very long,” Pierce said. “We can’t afford to be playing this way as we head down the stretch.”

Note: Pierce, a Kansas University product, complained about the Jayhawks being placed in the West Regional with Arizona, Illinois and Duke. “They’re killing us. That’s rough.”

Raptors 87, Hawks 86

Toronto — Vince Carter made two free throws with 3.7 seconds left, helping Toronto end a six-game losing streak.

Jason Terry had a team-high 23 points for the Hawks.

Magic 109, Heat 93

Orlando, Fla. — Tracy McGrady scored 21 of his 36 points in the second half, and Orlando made 12 three-pointers. Rookie Caron Butler had 20 points, and Brian Grant added 17.

Bucks 104, Nets 85

East Rutherford, N.J. — Rookie Marcus Haislip scored six of his 12 points in a 15-2 run to open the fourth quarter that put Milwaukee in control as the Bucks snapped a four-game losing streak.

Gary Payton scored 23, and Sam Cassell had 22 for the Bucks, who held the Nets to 12 points in the final 12 minutes.

Grizzlies 128, Cavaliers 101

Memphis, Tenn. — Pau Gasol scored 28 points, and Jason Williams added 16 points and 16 assists. Carlos Boozer, the league’s leading rookie field-goal shooter (53 percent), shot 12-of-15 from the field to lead the Cavaliers with 27 points.

Hornets 101, Knicks 96

New Orleans — Jamal Mashburn scored 25, and Baron Davis added 23 in his first start in nearly two months.

Allan Houston, coming off 50- and 36-point performances in New York’s previous two games, scored 29 but had only four points in the fourth quarter on 2-of-7 shooting.

Jazz 99, Suns 86

Phoenix — Karl Malone scored 20 of his 34 points in the second half, and Mart Harpring added 24. Shawn Marion scored 22 points, and Amare Stoudemire added 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Suns.

Trail Blazers 94, Rockets 83

Portland, Ore. — Derek Anderson had 21 points and seven assists, and Zach Randolph added 14 points for the Trail Blazers, who have won five of their last seven. The Rockets were again without coach Rudy Tomjanovich, who was resting in Houston after doctors discovered a cancerous tumor on his bladder lining.

Warriors 105, Sonics 99

Oakland, Calif. — Antawn Jamison had 28 points and 12 rebounds, and Jason Richardson scored 25. Bob Sura added 15 points for the Warriors, who had their second win in five days over Seattle.

Brent Barry had 23 points and nine rebounds for the Sonics.

Clippers 91, Nuggets 78

Los Angeles — Wang ZhiZhi scored a career-high 21 points, and rookie Marko Jaric scored nine of his 13 points during a 3:45 span of the fourth quarter.

Lamar Odom added 13 points for the Clippers, who won for only the sixth time in 27 games and are 3-7 since Dennis Johnson replaced Alvin Gentry as head coach March 3.