Pacers send Cavaliers to fourth straight loss
CLEVELAND » Thaddeus Young scored 26 points, Darren Collison had 25 and the Indiana Pacers sent the Cleveland Cavaliers to their fourth straight loss, 124-107 on Wednesday night.
LeBron James had 33 points and 11 assists, but it wasn’t enough to keep Cleveland from losing for the fifth time in six games and falling to 3-5.
The Cavaliers held a lengthy meeting before Tuesday’s practice to discuss their struggles, but the defending Eastern Conference champions have lost by a combined margin of 58 points in their losing streak.
James was upbeat about the meeting, but the Cavaliers still have issues to work out, especially on the defensive end. Cleveland led 69-68 in the third quarter, but Indiana hit four straight 3-pointers and built an eight-point lead. Indiana was 16 of 26 from 3-point range.
Victor Oladipo scored 23 points for the Pacers. Bojan Bogdanovic added 17, and Domantas Sabonis had 15 points and 12 rebounds. CELTICS 113, KINGS 86 » Kyrie Irving and Jaylen Brown each scored 22 points in three quarters, and Bostoncoasted past skidding Sacramento for its sixth straight victory.
It was the Celtics’ 11th consecutive win over the Kings in Boston, dating to their last loss on Jan. 19, 2007. Terry Rozier added 12 points, and Daniel Theis had 10 points with 10 rebounds.
Buddy Hield scored 17 points and Zach Randolph 16 for the Kings, who lost their sixth in a row — the last three by an average of 24 points. SUNS 122, WIZARDS 116 » T.J. Warren scored 28 of his career-high 40 points in the second half and Phoenix overcame a 22-point deficit to beat Washington.
Warren also had 10 rebounds and Devin Booker added 22 points to help the Suns improve to 4-1 under interim coach Jay Triano following an 0-3 start that led to Earl Watson’s firing.
Bradley Beal scored a season-high 40 points for Washington, which built the lead to 22 by the second quarter but saw it completely disappear early in the fourth. HORNETS 126, BUCKS 121 » Kemba Walker had 26 points, rookie Malik Monk had a huge fourth quarter and Charlotte put the clamps on the NBA scoring leader Giannis Antetokounmpo to beat Milwaukee.
Walker was 8 for 12 from the field, including 3 for 4 from 3-point range, and 7 for 7 from the foul line to help Charlotte win its third straight game. Monk, the team’s first-round draft pick from Kentucky, had 18 of his 25 points in the fourth.
Antetokounmpo came in averaging 33.7 points, but struggled with foul trouble and finished with a season-low 14 points along with 13 rebounds. He was limited to five points in the final three quarters. HEAT 97, BULLS 91 » Goran Dragic scored 20 points, Tyler Johnson added 19 and Miami beat Chicago to snap a three-game slide.
Hassan Whiteside returned from a five-game absence with a bruised knee and had 13 points and 14 rebounds for the Heat. ROCKETS 119, KNICKS 97 » James Harden had 31 points and nine assists, and Houston had its 3-pointers falling again in a victory over New York.
Harden made six 3-pointers and the Rockets hit 19 to bounce back after two straight losses.