Pacers snap Cavaliers' 12-game win streak

Former Cleveland guard C.J. Miles scored 26 points, 16 of them in the fourth quarter, as Indiana snapped the Cavaliers' 12-game NBA winning streak with a 103-99 come-from-behind triumph.

Miles drained three three-pointers in the final period, and George Hill completed a remarkable four-point play with 1:26 remaining that put the Pacers up for good.

Cleveland's Kyrie Irving snagged Hill's left hand as Hill dribbled around a screen set by Roy Hibbert at the top of the arc, Hill using his right hand to flip in a neat basket from three-point range -- looking surprised himself when it fell.

Hill connected on the ensuing foul shot to give the Pacers a 95-92 lead.

After Cavs superstar LeBron James missed a three-pointer, Miles snatched the rebound from Iman Shumpert and was fouled.

He drained both free throws with 53.2 seconds remaining and the Cavaliers couldn't recover, suffering their first defeat since January 13.

Cleveland, who got off to a stuttering start this season as they adjusted to the return of Ohio native James after his stint with the Miami Heat, fell one win shy of matching the longest winning streak in club history.

The Cavaliers have won 13 consecutive contests twice before, the most recent from between January 16 and February 11, 2010.

Hill finished with 20 points and seven assists, while David West added 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Pacers, who have won four of their last six games.

Irving supplied 29 points and five assists and James delivered 25 points, six rebounds and five assists for Cleveland.

The win marked the fourth time this season the Pacers rallied for a victory when trailing after three quarters.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Pacers trounce Bryant's listless Lakers

INDIANAPOLIS -- It didn't take long for the Los Angeles Lakers to come down from their high of watching Kobe Bryant pass Michael Jordan for third place on the all-time NBA scoring list.

Just 24 hours after Bryant hit a pair of free throws against Minnesota to pass Jordan, the Indiana Pacers compiled a 33 point halftime lead en route to a 110-91 thrashing of Los Angeles on Monday night.

"We were just embarrassed with the way we played in the first half," said Lakers coach Byron Scott. "We can't afford to do that. We have got to come out and be desperate as well."

The Lakers trailed 60-27 at the half as Bryant shot three-for-13 and the bench was two-for-19. The Lakers stumbled to a 16.3 percent shooting in the first 24 minutes.

The halftime score would have been much worse if the Lakers hadn't scored the final six points of the half.

Rodney Stuckey posted his second straight double-double for the Pacers, who snapped the Lakers' modest three-game win streak.

C.J. Miles' layup at 2:22 of the first quarter gave the Pacers a 26-4 lead. Los Angeles scored 11 points in the final two minutes of the period but still trailed 34-15.

The second quarter was a repeat of the first as the Pacers went on a 14-2 run to push their lead to 48-17 five minutes before halftime.

The Pacers led by almost 40 points before Bryant and Wesley Johnson hit back-to-back shots from beyond the arc to send the two teams into halftime.

Stuckey tallied 20 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists and Miles came off the bench to score 20 for Indiana, who hadn't won a game since November 28.

Bryant finished with 21 points on eight-for-26 shooting. Nick Young finished with 18 points on 12 shots and Carlos Boozer had 13 and 10 rebounds.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com