Pacers rout Spurs to snap 4-game skid
INDIANAPOLIS – Domantas Sabonis had 24 points and 13 rebounds, and Myles Turner added 19 points to lead the Indiana Pacers past struggling San Antonio 131-118 Monday night.
It was a welcome change for the Pacers, who snapped a four-game losing streak and won for just the second time in eight games under new coach Rick Carlisle.
Dejounte Murray finished with 16 points and Derrick White had 13 to lead San Antonio. The Spurs have lost four of their last five with the only win coming Saturday at defending NBA champion Milwaukee.
But after the opening minutes in Indianapolis, the Spurs never had a chance.
Indiana opened the game by going 8 of 10 from 3-point range and taking a 4331 lead after one quarter. Then, unlike their previous games, the Pacers continued accelerating. By halftime, the Pacers extended the margin to 78-56 and had five players in double figures.
76ers 113, Trail Blazers 103: Seth Curry stepped up in Joel Embiid’s absence on Monday night, scoring 23 points – including several key buckets late – to lead the short-handed 76ers to a victory over the Trail Blazers.
Embiid, the team’s leading scorer and four-time All-Star, was out due to rest – his first missed game of the season. The 76ers also were without Tobias Harris (health and safety protocols), who was a late scratch, and lost starter Danny Green in the third quarter due to hamstring tightness but not before he scored 11 points. It was the first of three games in four nights for Philadelphia, which has won three straight. Georges Niang added 21 points for the 76ers.
Norman Powell led the Trail Blazers with 22 points. Damian Lillard had 20 points and 10 assists and C.J. McCollum also had 20 points.
Cavaliers 113, Hornets 110: Jarrett Allen had 24 points and 16 rebounds as the Cavaliers held off a frantic fourth-quarter rally by the Hornets to win on Monday night and close out a five-game trip
on a positive note.
Lauri Markkanen scored 21 points, Evan Mobley added 15 points and 10 rebounds and Darius Garland had 16 points – including two clutch free throws with 14.9 seconds left – as the Cavaliers went 3-2 on the road.
LaMelo Ball finished with 30 points and Terry Rozier added 23 for Charlotte, which overcame a sloppy first half to cut a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit to two before falling short.
The Cavaliers took advantage of eight Charlotte turnovers in the first quarter to jump out to a 40-21 lead.
Raptors 113, Knicks 104: OG Anunoby scored a career-high 36 points and the Raptors won their fourth straight by beating the Knicks on Monday night in the 75th anniversary of the NBA’s first game.
Gary Trent Jr. added 26 points for the Raptors, who surged into the lead by outscoring the Knicks 38-22 in the third quarter. Fred VanVleet finished with 17 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
The Raptors took the lead for good during the period when Svi Mykhailiuk’s
3-pointer made it 68-66 – the same score by which the Knicks beat the Toronto Huskies on Nov. 1, 1946, at Maple Leaf Gardens.
Mykhailiuk finished with 15 points in place of Scottie Barnes, who was leading all rookies with 18.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. He has a sprained right thumb.
Bulls 128, Celtics 114: DeMar DeRozan scored 37 points and the Bulls rallied from a 19-point, second-half deficit on Monday night to beat the Celtics and improve to 6-1 for the season.
Zach LaVine scored 26 points and Nikola Vucevic had 11 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for the Bulls, who outscored Boston 39-11 in the fourth quarter to turn a 14-point lead into a 14-point victory.
Jaylen Brown scored 28 for the Celtics, who have lost three in a row and left their home court to boos after falling to 2-5 in new coach Ime Udoka’s first season.
Al Horford had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Jayson Tatum scored 20 for Boston. The Celtics led 94-75 with about three minutes left in the third quarter and still had a 103-89 lead entering the fourth.
Hawks 118, Wizards 111: Trae Young scored 26 points, Clint Capela had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and the Hawks beat the Wizards on Monday night.
Bradley Beal scored 19 of his 24 points in the first half for Washington, which had its three-game win streak halted and lost its fifth in a row at State Farm Arena. A victory would’ve given Washington (5-2) its best beginning to a season the 1974-75 Bullets got off to a 7-0 start.
Young went 11 for 11 from the freethrow line as Atlanta finished 29 for 29 on foul shots.
The Hawks, who lost 122-111 at Washington last week, snapped a two-game skid.
Magic 115, Timberwolves 97: Cole Anthony scored a season-high 31 points and Wendell Carter Jr. chipped in 15 points and 14 rebounds as the Magic came from behind to beat the Timberwolves on Monday night.
Rookie Franz Wagner had 28 points for Orlando, which snapped a fourgame losing streak, while Minnesota native Jalen Suggs scored 15 points. The Magic trailed by 11 late in the third quarter before rallying with a strong night from the 3-point line by Anthony.
Anthony shot 8 of 17 from the field, including 6 of 11 3s. Orlando made 24 of 30 from the free-throw line, compared to 11 of 19 for the Timberwolves.
Grizzlies 106, Nuggets 97: Ja Morant had 26 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, Tyus Jones added 17 points and the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Denver Nuggets 106-97 on Monday night.
Xavier Tillman had 12 points, while Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. finished with 11 each as Memphis snapped a three-game losing streak to the Nuggets.
Nikola Jokic led Denver with 23 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, while Aaron Gordon added 15 points and 10 rebounds. Monte Morris scored 11, but was 5 of 12 from the field – part of the Nuggets shooting 44% for the game.