Spurs surge home to overcome Pacers
Durant dominates as Thunder beat Nuggets
INDIANAPOLIS: The Spurs’ huge fourthquarter rally helped Gregg Popovich reach the 1,000-win milestone on Monday as San Antonio downed the Indiana Pacers 95-93.
Marco Belinelli’s baseline jumper with 2.1 seconds left capped win after Popovich became the ninth coach with 1,000 regular-season wins and the third-fastest to achieve the feat. He also joined former Utah coach Jerry Sloan as the only coaches in NBA history to win 1,000 games with one team.
Tony Parker led the Spurs with 19 points. Tim Duncan had 15.
Rodney Stuckey scored 18 for Indiana, who had won a season-best three in a row.
The Pacers had a 79-65 lead after three quarters. But the Spurs scored nine straight to tie the score at 91, tied it again at 93, took the lead on Belinelli’s shot and held on when George Hill’s three-pointer bounced off the rim.
Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant scored 40 points and Russell Westbrook had 26 as the Thunder beat the Nuggets 124-114 to hand Denver their sixth loss in a row.
Durant matched a career best by hitting seven three-pointers and finished 13 of 19 from the floor. Mitch McGary added 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Thunder.
The Nuggets, who have lost 13 of 14, were led by Wilson Chandler’s 23 points.
Kenneth Faried and Ty Lawson each added 22 for Denver, who also lost their sixth straight at home — their longest home skid since dropping seven in a row at the Pepsi Center from Feb 6 to March 2, 2003.
Trailing by 14 at half-time, the Nuggets scored the first nine points of the third quarter to pull to 73-68. But Westbrook countered with a three-pointer to spark a 13-3 burst that put the Thunder back in front by 15.
Stephen Curry scored 20 points for Golden State and Leandro Barbosa had 16 off the bench as the Warriors ended the Philadelphia 76ers’ four-game home winning streak.
Klay Thompson and former Sixer Andre Iguodala added 13 points apiece for the Warriors (41-9), who have won four of five and two straight after opening their four-game road trip with a loss to the Hawks on Friday.
Robert Covington scored 21 points to pace the 76ers (12-41), who committed 27 turnovers and shot seven for 24 from three-point range.
Golden State, the NBA’s second-best three-point shooting team, shot just seven for 29 from behind the arc.
In Minneapolis, Al Horford scored a season-high 28 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and DeMarre Carroll added a career-best 26 points to lift the Atlanta Hawks over the Minnesota Timberwolves 117-105.
Paul Millsap had 19 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Hawks (43-10), who bounced back from a loss to Memphis the previous night. The NBA-leading Hawks still have not lost back-toback games since Nov 18.