Harris leads Pistons to easy win over Pacers
DETROIT — Tobias Harris scored 30 points to help the Detroit Pistons rout the Indiana Pacers 107-83 on Tuesday night.
The victory moved the Pistons (19-14) past the Pacers (19-15) and into second spot in the NBA’s Central Division.
Andre Drummond added 21 points for the Pistons. Ish Smith (12 points) and Reggie Bullock (11) also reached double digits for Detroit.
Victor Oladipo led the Pacers with 13 points. Domantas Sabonis, Bojan Bogdanovic and Myles Turner each scored 10 points.
The win gave the Pistons a 3-1 decision in the season series between the two teams, the first time Detroit had won the season set from Indiana since going 4-0 against the Pacers in 2007-08.
Josh Richardson scored 20 points, Wayne Ellington had 12 of his 18 points in a dominant fourth quarter and the Miami Heat beat the struggling Orlando Magic. Tyler Johnson added 17, Kelly Olynyk scored 15 and Goran Dragic had 14 for the Heat, who outscored Orlando 39-21 in the fourth — the biggest margin by Miami in a final quarter this season. J.J. Barea scored 20 points, including a clinching layup in the final seconds, and the Dallas Mavericks ended another six-game winning streak by Toronto. The Mavericks held DeMar DeRozan and the Raptors to season lows in shooting percentage as Toronto lost for just the second time in 14 games, with each loss coming after six straight wins.
Nikola Mirotic came off the bench to score 24 points in 28 minutes and the Chicago Bulls won for the eighth time in 10 games, beating the Milwaukee Bucks. Chicago’s surge coincides with the return of Mirotic, who missed the beginning of the season after suffering facial fractures in an October fight with teammate Bobby Portis.
Kawhi Leonard scored 21 points, LaMarcus Aldridge added 20 and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Brooklyn Nets in their first game of the season with every player healthy and available. San Antonio is third in the Western Conference at 24-11 despite being without Leonard and/or Tony Parker for 30 games this season.
Jamal Murray scored 13 of his 22 points in the first quarter and the Denver Nuggets overcame the ejection of Nikola Jokic to beat the Utah Jazz. Jokic had 13 points and seven rebounds before getting tossed in the fourth quarter. Wilson Chandler and Gary Harris scored 15 apiece to help Denver win its third in a row.
Tyson Chandler dunked Dragan Bender’s inbounds pass from the opposite sideline with 0.4 seconds remaining to give the Phoenix Suns a victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. Bender threw a perfect pass and Chandler jumped over a defender to slam it down, though the play was reviewed by officials to see if there was offensive basket interference. After replay review, the basket counted, and Kobi Simmons missed the Grizzlies’ last attempt to tie at the buzzer.