Indianapolis ? Reggie Miller had no sympathy for the Boston Celtics. He didn’t need any favorable treatment from the officials, either.

Miller scored 33 points Thursday night, including 15 in the fourth quarter, and Indiana pulled away to a 99-76 victory and a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven first-round playoff series. Game 4 will be here Saturday night, and the series will return Tuesday to Boston.

“I hate that guy,” Boston coach Doc Rivers said, quickly adding, “No, Reggie’s been great. He really has. We’ve got to come up with a better answer for him than we have.”

Rivers said earlier this week that Miller, who had 25 points Monday night, might be getting “sympathy calls” from the officials as he makes his final NBA tour before retiring. The 39-year-old Pacers standout had his usual flops, trying to draw fouls as he went up for shots, but it wasn’t his theatrics or the officials’ kindly treatment that doomed the Celtics.

“We just got our tails kicked,” Rivers said. “They were more physical, they were the aggressor. They competed hard, got all the loose balls. This team has been here. If we try to play tit-for-tat and try to think our way through the series, we’re not going to do too well. We have the advantage of youth and athleticism, and we have to use that.”

Miller hit his first two shots, a big three-pointer that put Indiana in control in the first quarter and another three-pointer during a 17-3 run that broke the game open with less than six minutes to go.

Miller’s second three-pointer and then a dunk by Stephen Jackson, playing on a painful knee injury suffered in Monday night’s victory at Boston, gave the Pacers an 83-62 lead. Later, Miller came back for another basket and hit a free throw after an irate Rivers was called for a technical foul.

Miller also had seven rebounds and two assists and left the game with 2:28 to go amid the familiar chants of “Reg-gie, Reg-gie.”

Boston's Raef LaFrentz, center, shoots between Indiana's Dale Davis, left, and Jermaine O'Neal. The Pacers defeated the Celtics, 99-76, Thursday night in Indianapolis.

“It’s no accident he’s gotten better and better over his career,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “At one time, he was strictly a catch-and-shoot player, and he’s become a multidimensional player. He’s not the guy we go to every time, but we do feature in him in some ways. He’s a veteran and he has a knack for getting the ball in the basket.”

Jermaine O’Neal, playing despite a sore right shoulder and taking a pounding inside almost the whole game, had 21 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots. Paul Pierce led Boston with 19 points, Gary Payton finished with 15, and Antoine Walker added 14.

“It’s over with,” Payton said. “We have to come back and play Saturday.”