Pacers send Cavs 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.
• Suns 122, Wizards 116 — At Washington: T.J. Warren scored 28 of his careerhigh 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.
• Rockets 119, Knicks 97 — At New York: James Harden had 31 points and nine assists, and Houston 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.
Ryan Anderson added 21 points for the Rockets. They won their eighth straight at Madison Square Garden, a streak that lasts so long that Mike D’Antoni was the Knicks’ coach last time they beat Houston at home, back on Jan. 26, 2009.
• Hornets 126, Bucks 121 — At Charlotte, N.C.: Kemba Walker had 26 points, rookie Malik Monk had a huge fourth quarter and the Charlotte put the clamps on the NBA scoring leader Giannis Antetokounmpo to beat Milwaukee.
• Timerwolves 104, Pelicans 98 — At New Orleans: Jimmy Butler hit a go-ahead 20-foot jumper as he was fouled with 34 seconds left to cap off a 23-point performance, and Minnesota beat New Orleans.
• Magic 101, Grizzlies 99 — At Memphis, Tenn.: Evan Fournier scored 22 points, Aaron Gordon added 19 and Orlando held on to beat Memphis.
• Nuggets 129, Raptors 111 — At Denver: Jamal Murray scored 16 of his 24 points in a decisive thirdquarter spurt, and big man Nikola Jokic added 16 rebounds and 10 assists in Denver’s victory over Toronto.
• Jazz 112, Blazers 103 in OT — At Salt Lake City: Rookie Donovan Mitchell scored a career-high 28 points and Utah beat Portland in overtime.
• Heat 97, Bulls 91 — Miami: Goran Dragic scored 20 points, Tyler Johnson added 19 and Miami beat Chicago to snap a three-game slide.
• 76ers 119, Hawks 109 — At Philadelphia: Ben Simmons had 19 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists, and Joel Embiid had 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead Philadelphia past Atlanta for its third straight victory.