Hornets stung!
Oladipo and Turner star for Pacers in win over Charlotte
LOS ANGELES: Victor Oladipo and Myles Turner combined for 47 points as the Indiana Pacers won their second straight game with a 105-96 win over the struggling Charlotte Hornets.
The teams battled back and forth for the first three quarters before the Pacers pulled away late in the fourth with a 13-4 run on Monday.
Oladipo sparked the surge with a 19-footer and by the time the run was over, the Pacers had boosted their lead to 94-86 with six minutes remaining. They took over after that.
Oladipo scored a team-high 25 points for the Pacers, who have won two in a row and four of five.
“Everybody contributed,” Oladipo said. “It’s a collective team thing. We had to do a great job of playing team defence, making them work. I think we did a great job of that tonight.”
Six players scored in double figures, including Thaddeus Young with 16 points and Darren Collison with 13. Domantas Sabonis had his 12th double-double this season with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
“We finally found our groove in the fourth and wore them down,” Young said. The Pacers’ next game is today, when they host Memphis.
In Denver, Kyrie Irving delivered 27 points and Jaylen Brown rattled in a clutch three pointer with 34 seconds left as the Boston Celtics edged the Denver Nuggets 111-110.
Irving scored 10 points in the fourth quarter and shot 11-of-17 from the field overall for the Celtics, who won their second game in their last seven.
Jayson Tatum added 20 points and Marcus Morris came off the bench to score 14.
Brown’s three pointer from the left corner turned out to be the game-winning shot.
Denver had a chance to win in dramatic fashion at the end but Will Barton’s long attempt from three-point range was late and wide.
“They put us in some tough spots and I thought our guys battled,” said Boston coach Brad Stevens.
“We missed some good opportunities on offence. But we found a way.”
Nikola Jokic finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Barton scored 19, Gary Harris 15 and Jamal Murray 14.