There were boos early and at the end for the winless Washington Wizards, who posted their worst ever start to a season by dropping to nine consecutive losses with a 96-89 defeat to the Indiana Pacers on Monday night.
Indiana’s David West scored 13 of his season-best 30 points in the fourth quarter, and Roy Hibbert broke out of a slump with 20 points and 12 rebounds.
Still without point guard John Wall, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft, and starting center Nene, the Wizards are the only team in the NBA without a victory. They started last year by losing their first eight games, the club’s previous worst opening to a season.
File picture of Indiana Pacers forward Paul George. AP
They were led Monday by rookie Bradley Beal’s 18 points, 17 coming in the second half.
Jordan Crawford scored 11 on 2-for-12 shooting for Washington, which was jeered by the announced crowd of 14,426 in the opening minutes and again at the closing buzzer.
In other games, the Bobcats had a 102-98 win over the Bucks and the Hawks beat the Magic 81-72.
Ramon Sessions scored nine of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, including two free throws with 4.2 seconds left to seal the Bobcats’ win over Milwaukee at Charlotte.
The Bobcats trailed by 11 in the fourth but battled back, going 16 of 16 from the free throw line down the stretch. Sessions’ two free throws after Monta Ellis missed a 3-point attempt sent the Bucks to their first road loss. Ellis scored 31 points for the Bucks.
At Atlanta, Al Horford scored 15 points and Lou Williams added 14 to lead the Hawks to a win over struggling Orlando.
Zaza Pachulia pulled down 10 rebounds in a reserve role for the Hawks, who have won two straight and three of four.
Glen Davis (11) was the only player to score in double figures for the Magic, who have lost two straight and seven of eight.
AP
