(The Sports Xchange) – – – – Paul George scored 31 points to lead the Indiana Pacers to a comfortable 116-92 points victory over the in-form Sacramento Kings, who were seeking a fourth win in succession.
The Pacers built on a dominating 26-5 second-quarter run as they improved their NBA-leading record to 30-7 in their quest for home-court advantage in the playoffs.
After improving their home record to 19-1 this season, it was confirmed that the Pacers staff will be the Eastern Conference coaches for the NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans.
DeMarcus Cousins led the Kings (13-23) in scoring with 31 points and 13 rebounds. It was his 11th consecutive double-double.
The Pacers reached season highs in scoring with 116 points, 59 first-half points and 55 percent shooting from the field.
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Grizzlies 90, Thunder 87
The Memphis Grizzlies overcame 37 points from Kevin Durant and held on for a hard-fought victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Courtney Lee led Memphis with a season-high 24 points. Power forward Zach Randolph scored 23 with 13 rebounds and the Grizzlies got a boost from All-Star center Marc Gasol, who started after missing 23 games with a knee injury and finished with 12 points and four rebounds in 24 minutes. Memphis The Grizzlies (18-19) went 10-13 during his absence.
The Thunder (28-10) lost for the fifth time in their last eight games as they continue to toil without All Star guard Russell Westbrook.
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Bobcats 108, Knicks 98
Al Jefferson scored a season-high 35 points and guard Kemba Walker added 25 as the Charlotte Bobcats snapped a three-game losing streak with a victory over the surging New York Knicks.
Jefferson scored 19 of his points in the first half, when the Bobcats pulled out to a 55-46 halftime lead. Charlotte (16-23) went on to lead by as many as 17 points in the second half and never let the Knicks get closer than four briefly in the third quarter. The Knicks had a five-game winning streak snapped as they showed the effects of fatigue after a 98-96 overtime win over Phoenix on Monday. They fell to 15-23 with the loss.
Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 20 points but was just 9-of-22 from the field. New York also got 17 points from forward Amar’e Stoudemire.
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Cavaliers 120, Lakers 118
Luol Deng scored 27 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers handed the Los Angeles Lakers a fifth consecutive defeat.
It was the first game for Cleveland coach Mike Brown against the Lakers since the club fired him five games into last season and replaced him with Mike D’Antoni.
Deng scored 16 of his points in the second half as the Cavaliers (14-24) won for the third time in four outings while the Lakers (14-24) suffered their 11th loss in 12 games. Los Angeles forward Nick Young scored a season-high 28 points but missed two late three-point attempts in the final seconds.
Pau Gasol recorded 20 points and 12 rebounds and scored the final basket as time expired.
