NBA: Pacers edge past Jazz in a thriller

Indianapolis: Indiana’s Danny Granger scored 12 of his 16 points in a tightly contested fourth quarter, helping the Pacers to a 104-99 win over Utah Jazz in Tuesday’s NBA action. Indiana led by seven points at the start of the last quarter before the Jazz scored eight straight to take a lead, but they were overtaken again by the hosts. Darren Collison had 25 points, shooting 10 of 14 from the floor for the Pacers, and added five assists. Paul Millsap had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Jazz. HEAT 107, CAVALIERS 91 [caption id=“attachment_207257” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Utah Jazz’s Gordon Hayward puts up a shot against Indiana Pacers’ Danny Granger during the second half of their NBA game on Tuesday. Indiana won 104-99. Darron Cummings/AP”]  [/caption] In Miami, Dwyane Wade scored 26 points as Miami tuned up for a road trip with a victory over Cleveland. LeBron James added 24 against his former team as the Heat made it 11 wins from 13 games. They will play five road games in the next seven days. Antawn Jamison scored 25 points and had nine rebounds for Cleveland. THUNDER 119, WARRIORS 116 In Oakland, Kevin Durant hit a go-ahead bank shot with 14.2 seconds remaining, and the NBA-leading Oklahoma City clung on to edge Golden State. Durant finished with 33 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, and Russell Westbrook added 31 points and seven rebounds for the Thunder, who survived another thriller a night after beating Portland in overtime. Monta Ellis scored a career-high 48 points for the Warriors while David Lee had 25 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his second career triple-double. However both Ellis and Brandon Rush both missed 3-pointers in the closing seconds to tie or take the lead. TIMBERWOLVES 86, KINGS 84 In Minneapolis, Nikola Pekovic had 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead Minnesota to a narrow win over Sacramento, just squeaking past modest opposition in the first game without the suspended Kevin Love. Michael Beasley added 17 points and 14 boards for the Timberwolves, who notched a third straight win. DeMarcus Cousins had 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Kings while battling foul trouble for most of the game. SUNS 107, BUCKS 105 In Milwaukee, Steve Nash hit a driving layup with 5 seconds left to give Phoenix victory over Milwaukee. Michael Redd scored 14 points and came away with a win against his former team, but it wasn’t easy. The Suns blew a big lead in the second half and had to scrap at the end to get their third straight win. Drew Gooden scored a season-high 25 for the Bucks, who have lost three straight. CELTICS 94, BOBCATS 84 In Boston, Paul Pierce passed Larry Bird for No. 2 on the Celtics’ career scoring list as Boston downed lowly Charlotte and increased its winning streak to five. Pierce hit a 3-points in the third quarter to pass Bird’s total of 21,791. He nearly celebrated the milestone with a triple-double, coming up just short with 15 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Rajon Rondo added 14 assists and 10 points for the Celtics. Reggie Williams scored 21 for the Bobcats, who were competitive but still lost their 12th straight. AP