It was just one victory, and one that followed a brutal stretch in which they had lost 13 of 15 games. So the Indiana Pacers knew better than to make declarations after Wednesday's 102-72 win over Boston.

"We don't want to talk too fast," Jermaine O'Neal warned.

Still, wasn't this how they used to do it, back in the days when they were regarded as a league power? With passing, balance and depth, supported by all-out effort?

With 15,896 fans at Conseco Fieldhouse, the Pacers turned in one of their more uplifting performances of the season.

They dominated the Celtics for most of the 48 minutes, and unlike most games this season when they've amassed comfortable leads, they didn't let up long enough to make things interesting.

Six players scored in double figures, led by Jermaine O'Neal and Ron Artest, who scored 18 each. The bench contributed 34 points. The Pacers committed a season-low seven turnovers and rang up 27 assists. And they shot better than 45 percent for just the second time in the past 23 games, mostly because their ball movement was good enough to get easy shots.

"It was good to see the team come together collectively," coach Isiah Thomas said. "It's the most sustained (effort) we've had in quite awhile. The last few weeks we've had five or six good minutes, then all of a sudden we'd lose it. Tonight it was a total 48-minute game of offensive and defensive execution."

The victory allowed the Pacers (40-28) to look ahead rather than over their shoulders in the Eastern Conference race. They're in fourth place, two games ahead of the Celtics, and tied the season series at two to prevent the Celtics -- who fell behind New Orleans into sixth in the conference -- from taking outright control of the tiebreaker for playoff seedings.

They're three games behind conference leader Detroit and one game second-place Philadelphia and No. 3 New Jersey.

"We're not looking down," Al Harrington said. "We're looking at who we can catch.

"I can't wait to play Friday (against Memphis). I wish we had a game (tonight) to keep this going."

The only negative from the game was the flagrant foul awarded to Artest just five seconds after tip-off, when he hacked Celtics' guard Paul Pierce on the head on a breakaway layup. If upheld by the league office, Artest will be suspended for two more games -- Friday against the Grizzlies and Saturday at Atlanta.

He's already been suspended for 10, including two of the previous five.

The Pacers felt they began building momentum for this win in practice on Tuesday. Not only was everyone present, a rarity given all the personal issues they have been dealing with the past few weeks, but the urgency of their situation forced them to come together.

"Whatever we've got personally, we've got to handle," Jamaal Tinsley said. "Just having guys around and seeing each other again makes us play harder, I guess."

Tinsley was the primary impetus behind the quick start, picking up seven of his eight assists in the first period, when the Pacers jumped to a 29-13 lead. That's when Reggie Miller, a non-factor offensively most of the month, scored 11 of his 13 points.

"When he's playing well, that's when we're really unbeatable," Harrington said of Tinsley. "He gets everybody involved. When he comes out passing the ball like that it's kind of contagious. It makes everyone want to pass."

The Celtics (38-30) made it easier for the Pacers by hitting just 5-of-24 3-pointers. They've hit just 9-of-64 over the past three games. Such errant shooting helped the Pacers gain a 16-8 edge on fast-break points.

Just one win, of course. But it left enough good vibes for the Pacers to think the worst might be behind them.

"When we share the ball and trust in each other we can be a tough team to beat," O'Neal said. "Hopefully we can continue with that same effort for the next 14 games. We're right there, and everybody in front of us, we play.

"This makes everybody feel good again. Winning can be contagious like losing can."