AFP, LOS ANGELES
The Indiana Pacers erased a 15-point deficit to bring Cleveland’s 12-game NBA winning streak to an emphatic end on Sunday, beating the league-leading Cavaliers 108-93.
Andrew Nembhard scored 19 points, Pascal Siakam added 18, and Myles Turner had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers, who weathered the halftime departure of star guard Tyrese Haliburton with a tight left hamstring.
Indiana handed the Cavaliers just their second home defeat of the season, notching their own sixth straight victory by a double-digit margin.
Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard, left, loses the ball as Cleveland Cavaliers guard Caris LeVert defends during their NBA game at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sunday.
Photo: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images/USA Today
“It’s nothing to lose,” Nembhard said of the Pacers’ second-half push. “This is the best team in the league right now. We just had to play hard, play together, put some more physicality in the game on the defensive side and play off that.”
Darius Garland scored 20 points and handed out seven assists to lead the Cavaliers, who led 53-40 at halftime and pushed the advantage to 60-45 early in the third quarter.
Pacers forward Bennedict Mathurin and reserve Obi Toppin scored 10 points apiece in the third as Indiana outscored Cleveland 37-18 to turn the tide.
Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum drives to the basket during their NBA game against the New Orleans Pelicans at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, on Sunday.
Photo: Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images/USA Today
Toppin’s 12 points total were part of a strong performance from the Indiana bench, which outscored the Cleveland reserves 42-24.
In Boston, Jayson Tatum scored 38 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to fuel the reigning champion Celtics in a 120-119 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Pels, buoyed by the return of Zion Williamson from a one-game team suspension for violating team policy, led by as many as 11 points in the first quarter.
Trey Murphy III scored 30 points and Williamson added 16, but the Celtics eked out the victory despite connecting on just 43.6 percent of their shots from the field and just 13 of 44 from three-point range.
Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander also endured a tough shooting night, making just five of 17 shots from the floor, but drilling 16 of his 17 free-throw attempts to score 27 in the Thunder’s lopsided 136-95 victory over the Washington Wizards.
The Denver Nuggets, fired by standout performances from Russell Westbrook and Nikola Jokic, rallied from a 19-point third-quarter deficit to beat the Mavericks 112-101 in Dallas.
Westbrook scored 21 points with 10 rebounds and seven assists, reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic scored 19 points with 18 rebounds and nine assists, and the Nuggets outscored the Mavs 33-12 in the fourth quarter to seize the victory in Texas.
“What I love about this group is how resilient they are. We get down, we stay the course, there is no panic … we stay the course and try to find a way,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.
In New York, Jalen Brunson scored 44 points and Karl-Anthony Towns added 30 points and 18 rebounds to lead the Knicks in a 140-106 rout of the Milwaukee Bucks.
Brunson set a tone with 23 points in the first quarter and shook off a hard fall early in the third as the Knicks rebounded from a lopsided loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 24 points and Damian Lillard added 22 for the Bucks, whose three-game winning streak ended.
