Aldridge’s milestone helps Nets beat Pacers
NEW YORK » LaMarcus Aldridge scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half, reaching 20,000 for his career, to lead the Brooklyn Nets to a 105-98 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Friday night.
James Harden broke out of an early season slump with 29 points and Kevin Durant added 22 as the Nets evened their record at 3-3.
Aldridge became the 48th player in league history and the seventh active player to score 20,000 points.
“He has scorer’s instincts,” Durant said. “(It’s a) huge accomplishment. ...(A) huge milestone.”
Indiana dropped to 1-5 overall and 0-4 on the road despite 28 points from Torrey Craig. Chris Duarte added 19, Domantas Sabonis contributed 16 and Jeremy Lamb chipped in with 12.
The Nets started slowly against a Pacers team that was playing without Isaiah Jackson (hyperextended
right knee) and former Net Caris LeVert (stress fracture in his lower back) and trailed by 16 after Craig knocked down an 11-foot jumper with 9:17 left in the second quarter. But Brooklyn finished the quarter with a 28-9 run.
HEAT 114, HORNETS 99 » Jimmy Butler scored 32 points, Bam Adebayo had 26 points and 19 rebounds on the night his Olympic gold-medalist banner was unveiled and Miami held
off Charlotte.
Tyler Herro scored 26 points off the bench for Miami, which wasted most of a 26-point first-half lead. The Heat were 19 for 19 from the foul line for the second time this season and outrebounded Charlotte 60-37.
RAPTORS 110, MAGIC 109 » Fred VanVleet scored 16 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, Scottie Barnes had 21 points and Toronto beat Orlando,
Gary Trent Jr. added 19 points and made a crucial defensive play on the final possession.
BLAZERS 111, CLIPPERS 92 » Damian Lillard scored 25 points and Portland extracted some revenge for a loss earlier this week to the Los Angeles Clippers with a victory.
Paul George, who had 41 points earlier this season against Memphis, had 42 against the Blazers, just six shy of his career-high.
NUGGETS 106, MAVERICKS
Nikola Jokic had 11 points and 16 rebounds on a bruised right knee, Will Barton added 17 points and Denver routed Dallas.
Jokic was a game-time decision after hurting his knee Tuesday in Utah. The reigning NBA MVP was on the court well before tipoff and nailing jumper after jumper.
LAKERS 113, CAVS 101 » LeBron James scored 26 points, Carmelo Anthony added 24 while hitting six 3-pointers, and Los Angeles snapped Cleveland’s three-game winning streak.