Pacers finish strong, beat Celtics

Paul George had 25 points as the Indiana Pacers finished with a strong fourth quarter to beat the Boston Celtics 103-98 on Tuesday.

Monta Ellis added 16 points with six assists, and Jordan Hill scored 15 for Indiana.

Isaiah Thomas had 21 points, eight assists and six rebounds for Boston.

The score was tied at 77 with about 7 minutes remaining before the Pacers put together a 15-4 run that gave them enough breathing room to withstand a late Boston surge. Avery Bradley’s jumper pulled the Celtics to 84-81 with about 4 1/2 minutes to go, but they got no closer after that.

In San Antonio, Kawhi Leonard had 20 points to help the Spurs wear down the short-handed Los Angeles Clippers 108-87 and match the second-longest home winning streak to open a season in NBA history.

San Antonio won their 33rd straight home game this season, tying Orlando’s start to the 1995-1996 season. Chicago holds the record at 37 games in ‘95-96 on the way to a record 72 wins overall.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 17 points and reserve guards Patty Mills and Manu Ginobili added 15 and 13, respectively, for the Spurs (57-10).

Kyle Lowry scored 25 points as Toronto, despite resting leading scorer DeMar DeRozan, had no trouble winning 107-89 at Milwaukee.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 18 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists in 35 minutes for the Bucks, just missing a triple-double.

DeRozan, who averages 23.8 points per game, was in uniform but didn’t play after starting each of the team’s first 65 games and playing 39 minutes in a loss to Chicago on Monday night.

In Orlando, Evan Fournier scored 30 points and Jason Smith had 25 points and 13 rebounds off the bench to help the Magic beat Denver 116-110.

Victor Oladipo scored 23 for the Magic, who led by 18 in the third quarter before fending off Denver’s second-half rally. Brandon Jennings added 12 points and 11 assists in his first start for Orlando.

Bojan Bogdanovic scored a career-best 44 points to help Brooklyn set a season high for points against Philadelphia, winning 131-114 at home.

Sean Kilpatrick had 19 points, Brook Lopez added 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Thaddeus Young finished with 14 points and 16 rebounds for the Nets.

Bogdanovic’s previous career high was 28 points against Orlando last April 15. His total was the most for a Nets player since Deron Williams scored 57 on March 4, 2012.

Darren Collison had 22 points in his ninth start of the season and DeMarcus Cousins also scored 22 as the Sacramento Kings completed a four-game season sweep of the Lakers with a 106-98 victory in Los Angeles.

The Lakers, who trailed by as many as 23, got as close as 97-91 on a pair of free throws by Julius Randle that capped a 15-5 run with 3:14 to play. Rudy Gay clinched it for the Kings by scoring seven of his 20 points in the final 2:57.

This was the first time the Kings went an entire season without losing to the Lakers during the franchise’s 68-year history. Sacramento has won eight of the last nine meetings, after losing 16 of the previous 21.