Indianapolis ? With four major players missing from Monday night’s game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Indiana Pacers, it didn’t figure to be a pretty contest.

It wasn’t, but the Pacers proved to be better without Jermaine O’Neal than the Lakers were minus Shaquille O’Neal.

Ron Artest had 24 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and Al Harrington added 16 points to lead the Pacers to an 85-72 win over the Lakers.

“It’s a quality win, Shaq or no Shaq,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said.

Shaquille O’Neal was suspended for one game without pay by the NBA earlier Monday, one day after using obscene language and publicly criticizing officials during a television interview following the Lakers’ win over Toronto.

“When a guy like Shaquille O’Neal doesn’t play, you’re worried you won’t get up, but we were solid,” Carlisle said.

Jermaine O’Neal missed the game after straining his neck in Saturday’s win over Boston.

The Lakers also were without injured standouts Kobe Bryant and Karl Malone. That, essentially, left Gary Payton to take on the team with the most wins in the NBA.

He wasn’t up to the task. Payton went 1-for-8 in the first half and the Lakers went 7:18 without a field goal in the second quarter to fall behind 41-26 at half.

L.A. Lakers forward Luke Walton, right, defends Indiana's Al Harrington in the fourth quarter. The Pacers beat the Lakers, 85-72, Monday in Indianapolis.

Payton finished with 10 points on 4-of-17 shooting. Stanislav Medvedenko, who had 14 points, was the only other Laker in double figures.

“We missed too many shots, including myself,” Payton said.

The Pacers countered with four players in double figures, a balance that was too much for the Lakers to overcome.

Artest attempted a career-high 27 shots and Austin Croshere came up with eight big fourth-quarter points to help compensate for the loss of Jermaine O’Neal.

“Everybody here steps it up when somebody is out,” Artest said. “When you lose an offense like J.O., you don’t try to replace it, you just play aggressive and play the game the right way to win.”

During the morning shootaround, Los Angeles planned to take advantage of Jermaine O’Neal’s absence by going down low to Shaquille O’Neal early and often. But Lakers coach Phil Jackson found out late his center would not be available.

Without him, the Lakers turned in one of their worst offensive performances of the season. Their 72 points, 34.7 percent shooting and 26 first-half points were all easily season lows.

“We competed, but we still need big fella,” Payton said of Shaquille O’Neal. “If he was here, it probably would’ve been a different story. We just have to keep playing and get through this stuff.”

The Pacers were just 7-for-15 from the free-throw line and, despite their point totals, Artest and Harrington combined to shoot 16-for-45 from the field.

The Lakers used an 8-0 run early in the fourth quarter to pull within 69-60, but Croshere hit a three-pointer and Harrington’s jumper pushed the lead back to 76-62 with just under seven minutes to play.

“They hit some threes, which is what we couldn’t do,” Jackson said.

Nets 91, Hornets 70

New Orleans — Jason Kidd had 14 points and 12 assists, leading a fast-break offense that pushed New Jersey to its fifth straight win.

Jamaal Magloire had 22 points and 13 rebounds to lead New Orleans.

Grizzlies 106,

Warriors 101

Memphis, Tenn. — Pau Gasol and Lorenzen Wright each scored 18 points, and Gasol keyed a fourth-quarter comeback.

Jason Richardson led the Warriors with 19 points, while Cliff Robinson finished with 17.

Clippers 101, Hawks 95

Atlanta — Elton Brand scored 22 points, including three straight baskets in a key stretch of the fourth quarter, and the Los Angeles Clippers denied Atlanta its first winning streak of the season.

The Hawks have yet to win two in a row, falling to 0-15 coming off a victory.

Pistons 102,

Heat 100, OT

Miami — Richard Hamilton sank a tie-breaking 14-footer with 14 seconds left in overtime, and Detroit earned its fourth consecutive down-to-the-wire win.

Tayshaun Prince scored a career-high 24 points for Detroit. Chauncey Billups added 23.

Eddie Jones scored 19 points for Miami. Lamar Odom had his 24th double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds.

Spurs 83, Jazz 65

Salt Lake City — Tim Duncan had 31 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots to lead San Antonio to its 16th straight win over Utah.

Andrei Kirilenko led Utah with 10 points.

Suns 99, Rockets 79

Phoenix — Shawn Marion scored 14 of his 31 points in the third period, and Joe Johnson had 27 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, helping Phoenix break a three-game losing streak.

It was the sixth consecutive game that Johnson has scored at least 20 points, second only to the 16-game streak of Orlando’s Tracy McGrady.

Yao Ming and Cuttino Mobley topped the Rockets with 16 points each.

Nuggets 116, Blazers 97

Denver — Carmelo Anthony scored a career-high 39 points on 14-of-22 shooting, and Denver ended Portland’s four-game winning streak.

Nene added 20 points and Voshon Lenard 13 as Denver posted its third straight win.

Portland, hurt by 24 turnovers, was led by Zach Randolph’s 28 points and 11 rebounds.

Sonics 109, Bulls 97

Seattle — Ray Allen scored 11 of his 27 points in the third quarter, and Antonio Daniels added 10 points and 12 assists as Seattle handed Chicago its 11th loss in 12 games.

Jamal Crawford, who grew up in Seattle, led the Bulls with 31 points.