Aaron Nesmith poured in a season-high 31 points, Quenton Jackson and Pascal Siakam buried key 3-pointers down the stretch and the short-handed Indiana Pacers outfinished the visiting Golden State Warriors for a 114-109 victory Saturday night in Indianapolis.
Facing a winless team playing the second night of a back-to-back without Tyrese Haliburton, Ben Mathurin, Obi Toppin and T.J. McConnell, the Warriors appeared to be on their way to a comfortable win when Stephen Curry nailed a 3-pointer for a 104-93 lead with 6:05 remaining.
But the Pacers took charge from there, initially using a 9-0 run to get back into the game before finally overtaking the visitors at 109-107 with 1:09 to play on a Jackson 3-pointer following a Jarace Walker offensive rebound. Jimmy Butler III had a chance to put Golden State back on top, but he missed a free throw after getting fouled on a game-tying dunk with 56 seconds left.
Siakam then drilled the difference-maker, a 26-footer with 37 seconds remaining to break the tie and put Indiana on top for good en route to its first win in six tries this season. After Jonathan Kuminga misfired on a potential game-tying 3-pointer, Jackson capped a 25-point night with a two-point bank shot with 5.2 seconds to go.
Kings 135, Bucks 133
Zach LaVine’s 31 points led a quartet of Sacramento scorers to post at least 24 as the Kings snapped a three-game skid with a road win over Milwaukee.
DeMar DeRozan, Domantas Sabonis and Dennis Schroder rounded out the Kings quartet, putting up 29, 24, and 24 points, respectively. Sacramento went 35 of 40 from the free-throw line in the victory.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 11 straight fourth-quarter points as part of his 26-point, 11-rebound effort, while Kyle Kuzma bested him with 16 consecutive fourth-quarter points as he totaled 22 for the game. Antetokounmpo had a chance to tie the game after rebounding AJ Green’s missed free throw in the closing seconds but couldn’t get off a putback attempt.
Rockets 128, Celtics 101
Kevin Durant scored a game-high 26 points and Alperen Sengun had 16 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists to lead visiting Houston to a victory over Boston.
Amen Thompson added 17 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for Houston, which has won three in a row since an 0-2 start. The Rockets shot 54.5% from the field and 65.5% from 3-point territory (19 of 29). Houston has scored 137, 139 and 128 points over its last three games.
Baylor Scheierman was Boston’s leading scorer with 17 points. Payton Pritchard added 14 and Jaylen Brown finished with 12 points in 22 minutes. Derrick White shot 2 of 11 from the field and was limited to five points in 19 minutes. Boston shot 38.8% from the field and 31.8% from 3-point range (14 of 44) as its three-game winning streak ended.
Timberwolves 122, Hornets 105
Julius Randle pumped in 30 points and Minnesota rode a big second half to a road victory over Charlotte.
Donte DiVincenzo and reserve Naz Reid each posted 18 points for the Timberwolves, while Rudy Gobert’s 14 points and 15 rebounds were critical. Jaden McDaniels with 14 points and Mike Conley with 10 points also boosted Minnesota, which piled up 72 second-half points to snap a two-game skid.
Miles Bridges scored 18 of his season-high 30 points in the first quarter for the Hornets, who have dropped three games in a row after shooting 39.1% from the field. LaMelo Ball’s 18 points and game-high eight assists, reserve Tre Mann’s 16 points and Moussa Diabate’s 11 points and nine rebounds off the bench weren’t enough.
Pistons 122, Mavericks 110
Jalen Duren scored a career-best 33 points on 13-of-16 shooting and collected 10 rebounds to help Detroit notch a victory over Dallas in the 15th NBA regular-season game in Mexico City.
Cade Cunningham recorded 21 points, tied his career high of 18 assists and grabbed six rebounds as Detroit won for the fourth time in six games this season. Duncan Robinson scored 18 points and Ausar Thompson added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Pistons, who outscored Dallas 35-17 in the final quarter.
D’Angelo Russell made seven 3-pointers and scored 31 points for Dallas, which played without star Anthony Davis (left calf). Cooper Flagg registered 16 points and eight rebounds, and Max Christie added 13 points, six rebounds and five assists for the Mavericks, who made just four of 16 shots in the final quarter.
Magic 125, Wizards 94
Paolo Banchero scored 28 points and added 11 rebounds as Orlando thrashed host Washington.
Franz Wagner chipped in with 25 points, while Wendell Carter Jr. recorded 16 points and 12 rebounds. Goga Bitadze also scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds in 20 minutes of action to help the Magic win their 11th straight meeting versus the Wizards.
Kyshawn George led the Wizards with 17 points. CJ McCollum scored 13 points, and Alex Sarr and Bilal Coulibaly added 10 apiece in the loss. Washington has now lost four straight games and five of its last six.
