Oladipo, Pacers snap Spurs home streak at 14
Magic, Lakers notch up wins
SAN ANTONIO, Jan 22, (AP): Indiana made itself at home at an arena that’s rarely hospitable to visiting teams.
Victor Oladipo scored 19 points and the Pacers defeated San Antonio 94-86 on Sunday night, snapping the Spurs’ 14-game home winning streak.
San Antonio lost at home for the third time this season and the first since Nov. 10 against Milwaukee.
“It’s just a great win for this young team to come into San Antonio, where they only lost two games,” Pacers coach Nate McMillan said. “This has always been a tough place to play and to end the road trip when you’re a little fatigued and a little tired. The challenge was mentally give yourself a chance by giving the effort, staying connected, playing together, and they did.”
The Pacers became the first Eastern Conference team in three years to sweep a season series from the Spurs.
With Manu Ginobili, Rudy Gay and Kawhi Leonard out with injuries, San Antonio made a last-minute lineup change, bringing Tony Parker off the bench for the 14th time in 1,165 career games.
Asked if Dejounte Murray would continue to start at point guard, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said, “We’ll see.”
Murray had eight points, seven rebounds, four assists and four turnovers in 28 minutes.
Parker responded with 12 points, five assists and one turnover, but LaMarcus Aldridge struggled without the veteran point guard.
The Pacers stymied Aldridge offensively even without the injured Myles Turner, limiting the Spurs forward to a season-low 10 points. Aldridge finished 5 for 14 from the field.
“Thaddeus (Young) did a really nice job of making LaMarcus work,” McMillan said. “You don’t stop those guys, but he was physical and made it tough for him to score. The rest of our guys did a good job defending and just keeping them in front.”
Indiana, which led by as many as 17 points, had 15 steals while forcing 20 turnovers.
Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie (8) drives on Detroit Pistons forward Anthony Tolliver in the first half of an NBA basketball game in
Detroit on Jan 21. (AP)
“We did a great job just getting stops and moving the ball,” Oladipo said. “They’re a tough team to play against. Well-coached team, great players over there, it was a tough-fought team win. We’ve just got to build on it.”
Darren Collison added 15 points for Indiana, which snapped a three-game losing streak in San Antonio.
The Spurs pulled within 83-76 with 5:03 remaining on Davis Bertans’ 3-pointer, but San Antonio committed two turnovers on the next two possessions.
Magic 103, Celtics 95 In Boston, Elfrid Payton had 22 points and Orlando won for just the third time in 20 games, overcoming Kyrie Irving’s 40 points.
Orlando snapped a 14-game losing streak at Boston. The Magic had lost 10 in a row on the road overall since early December.
Irving sat out Boston’s previous game to rest a sore left shoulder. Despite his efforts, the Celtics dropped their season-worst third straight home game.
Evan Fournier added 19 and Aaron Gordon had a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Magic.
Lakers 127, Knicks 107 In Los Angeles, Jordan Clarkson had 29 points and 10 assists, Julius Randle added 27 points and 12 rebounds, and Los Angeles got its sixth win in eight games.
Kyle Kuzma added 15 points for the Lakers (17-29), who continued their midseason surge of solid play. Rookie point guard Alex Caruso set career highs with nine points and eight assists, making the most of extensive playing time in the absence of injured Lonzo Ball.
Kristaps Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Michael Beasley scored 17 points apiece for the Knicks, who have lost 12 of 16. New York slipped to 2-2 on its seven-game trip.
The Knicks couldn’t keep up down the stretch with the Lakers, whose uptempo offense flowed throughout their highest-scoring game in two weeks.
Nets 101, Pistons 100 In Detroit, Spencer Dinwiddie’s jumper with 0.9 seconds left lifted Brooklyn over Detroit, the Pistons’ fifth straight loss.
After a basket by Andre Drummond put the Pistons ahead with 4.7 seconds left, Dinwiddie took the inbounds pass, drove to 14 feet and drained a jumper against his former teammates.
Caris LeVert split a pair of free throws with 13.7 seconds left, giving the Nets a 99-98 edge.
Langston Galloway misplayed the ensuing inbounds pass, but was able to knock the ball to Drummond. Detroit’s center nearly traveled in a rare drive from outside the 3-point arc, and flipped in a go-ahead shot.
Dinwiddie finished with 22 points. Tobias Harris led the Pistons with 20. Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo (left), and San Antonio Spurs guard Dejounte Murray (right), battle for the ball during the second half of an NBA
basketball game on Jan 21, in San Antonio. (AP)