Nuggets beat Pacers, end their losing streak
Iverson, Billups to play in Ice Cube’s league
LONDON — Nikola Jokic had 22 points and 10 rebounds and the Denver Nuggets emphatically ended a fivegame losing streak with a 140-112 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night in the NBA’s Global Games series at O2 Arena.
Wilson Chandler added 21 points, and Danilo Gallinari had 18 for the Nuggets. They outscored the Pacers 39-20 in the third quarter, shooting 73.7 percent in the period to put it away.
Denver trailed only once, when Kevin Seraphin gave the Pacers a 31-30 lead early in the second quarter, and finished with a season high in scoring.
C.J. Miles had 20 points, and Jeff Teague added 14 points and nine assists for Indiana. The Pacers had won five in a row, scoring at least 120 points in each victory.
KNICKS 104, BULLS 89: In New York, Carmelo Anthony had 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists, Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah had big games against their former team, and New York beat Chicago.
Rose scored 17 points in his return to Madison Square Garden after skipping the last game here, and Noah finished with 12 points and 15 rebounds as the Knicks snapped a three-game losing streak. Rookie Mindaugas Kuzminskas had a season-high 19 points.
The Knicks bounced back from a loss at the buzzer in Philadelphia on Wednesday to win for the first time this season on the second night of back-toback games.
Playing without starting forward Kristaps Porzingis, New York won for just the second time in 11 games. SPURS 134, LAKERS 94: In San Antonio, Kawhi Leonard had 31 points despite sitting out the fourth quarter, and San Antonio set several season highs in rolling past Los Angeles.
San Antonio rebounded from a lastminute loss to Milwaukee on Tuesday with its highest point total and largest margin of victory this season. The Spurs also set a season high by shooting 61 percent from the field.
WARRIORS 127, PISTONS 107: In Oakland, Calif., Klay Thompson returned from a one-game absence for rest and scored 23 points with four 3-pointers in another balanced Golden State performance as the Warriors beat Detroit.
Stephen Curry scored 24 points, Kevin Durant had 25 points, nine assists and six rebounds, and Draymond Green dished out 13 assists for his fifth game in the last eight in double digits.
MAVERICKS 113, SUNS 108: In Mexico City, Deron Williams had 23 points and 15 assists, and Dallas defeated Phoenix in the fourth regular-season NBA game played in Mexico.
Williams shot 9 for 15 from the field in a matchup of struggling teams. Harrison Barnes added 22 points and Dirk Nowitzki scored 18 for the Mavericks.
The game was the first of two that the Suns will play south of the border. Mexico is hosting two games in one regular season for the first time in NBA history.
PELICANS 104, NETS 95: In New York, Tyreke Evans scored a seasonhigh 29 points and New Orleans, playing without All-Star big man Anthony Davis, handed Brooklyn its eighth straight defeat.
Terrence Jones added 24 points and 12 rebounds for New Orleans.
Jrue Holiday scored 21 and Solomon Hill had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Pelicans.
3 ON 3: Allen Iverson, Chauncey Billups and Jason Williams are among the ex-NBA players coming out of retirement to compete in a new 3-on-3 league founded by rapper-actor Ice Cube that will feature a half-court setup and a four-point shot.
Play in the eight-team BIG3 league commences this summer with the idea that the fast-flowing, freelancing format drawing on the creativity of the playground game will appeal to a younger generation of fans.
Ex-pros over age 30 will fill the fiveman rosters. First team to 60 points wins. Shots made from three large circles placed beyond the 3-point line will count for four points.