Pacers finish with a flourish, run past Heat for victory
MIAMI >> Victor Oladipo had 22 points and 10 assists, Bojan Bogdanovic put Indiana ahead to stay on a 3-pointer with just under a minute remaining and the Pacers beat the Miami Heat 110-102 on Friday night.
Domantas Sabonis and Darren Collison each scored 17 points, and Bogdanovic had 16 to help the Pacers snap a two-game slide. Sabonis finished with 11 rebounds, and the Pacers outscored Miami 16-2 in the final 3:31.
Kelly Olynyk led the Heat with 20 points, but missed most of the fourth quarter with an injury. Josh Richardson scored 18, Tyler Johnson had 15 and Hassan Whiteside ended up with 11 points and 20 rebounds for Miami.
The Heat were again without Dwyane Wade, who’s excused while he and wife Gabrielle Union-Wade continue celebrating the birth earlier this week of their daughter. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is calling Wade’s absence day-to-day, though said the team will give him as much time as he wants and needs.
Olynyk left early in the fourth holding his midsection. Olynyk was kneed by Indiana’s Tyreke Evans around the ribs, and remained down for a couple minutes before going to the locker room. It was part of a rough night for Olynyk — he took an elbow in the face from Indiana’s Thaddeus Young late in the first half.
Young was ejected for the Flagrant-2 foul. Evans was called for an offensive foul on the play that knocked Olynyk from the game for most of the fourth; he returned in the final seconds.
MAGIC 117, WIZARDS 108 >> Nikola Vucevic had 21 points and 14 rebounds and D.J. Augustin came up with big plays in the final two minutes to help Orlando beat Washington.
Augustin had six points, an assist and a steal after Washington cut a 25-point deficit to one at 106105 with 2:30 remaining. Aaron Gordon added 20 points for Orlando, Evan Fournier and rookie Mo Bamba had 15 points each, and Augustin finished with 11. PISTONS 124, HAWKS 109>> Andre Drummond had 23 points and 11 rebounds, Stanley Johnson added a season-high 22 points and Detroit beat Atlanta.
In a game that was essentially decided in the first quarter, the Pistons were so dominant that they scored 74 points and led by 23 at halftime with Blake Griffin, the NBA’s fifth-leading scorer, 0 for 2 from the field. Drummond’s double-double was the 300th of his career, most in the league since his rookie season of 2012-13. Jeremy Lin had 19 points for Atlanta.
Curry has groin strain
OAKLAND >> Stephen Curry has a mild to moderate left groin strain and will miss Golden State’s home game against Brooklyn on Saturday.
Curry underwent an MRI exam Friday but the Warriors will wait a few days to fully determine the severity of the injury. Coach Steve Kerr said it doesn’t appear to be significant.
“This doesn’t look like it’s going to be a long-term injury. He’s disappointed but it could have been a lot worse,” Kerr said. “We’ll just monitor his progress over the next several days.”