Indianapolis, Indiana: The Indiana Pacers won their fifth-consecutive game on Tuesday by beating the Golden State Warriors 108-97 behind a 28-point effort by David West.
Paul George finished with 21 points and 11 boards and George Hill had 23 points and six assists for the Pacers, who halted Golden State’s modest win streak at three National Basketball Association games.
Roy Hibbert finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and five blocks for the Pacers, who have won 10 of their last 12 games and have posted five straight wins in a row twice this month.
Indiana had four players in double-figure scoring on Tuesday including Hibbert, who was ejected in the fourth quarter after getting into a pushing match with the Warriors’ David Lee before players from both teams joined the fray.
“No punches were thrown. It was just two teams competing hard. Two teams trying to win,” Lee said.
Pacers forward Danny Granger, who is still trying to shake off the rust of a long layoff, made his home debut on Tuesday, scoring five points on one-for-seven shooting.
Granger had been sidelined all season with a knee problem and made his anticipated season debut on Saturday in a 90-72 victory over the Detroit Pistons.
Stephen Curry scored a game-high 38 points, but also had a half dozen of Golden States’ 20 turnovers at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse arena.
Lee finished with 12 points and 12 boards in the loss.
Indiana has won four straight in a row at home and is an impressive 24-5 as host.
Golden State is in the midst of a five-game road trip. The Warriors are 15-17 away, and will also visit New York, Boston and Philadelphia on their eastern swing.
Meanwhile, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade combined for 79 points as the Miami Heat prevailed 141-129 in a double overtime marathon against the Sacramento Kings.
James scored 40 points, a career-high 16 assists and eight rebounds while Wade tacked on 39 to rescue the Eastern Conference leading Heat (41-14) and give them a league-high 12th consecutive victory.
“It was probably like 20 innings if it were a baseball game,” James told reporters. “But we needed double overtime and we did it.”
While on paper it figured to be an easy win for the Heat over the Conference’s last-place team, the Kings made things tough for their high-flying opponents.
Miami led 110-101 with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter before visiting Sacramento (19-39) ran them down with an 11-2 run that included three consecutive three-pointers from Marcus Thornton, who had a team-high 36 points.
After both teams scored 12 points in the first overtime, James tallied 11 points in the second as the home team outscored the Kings 17-5 to finally put the game away.
“We had every opportunity to win that game but it didn’t fall our way this time,” said Sacramento coach Keith Smart. “I thought our guys stayed right there.”
Sacramento starters Tyreke Evans scored 26 and DeMarcus Cousins recorded 24 and 15 rebounds but they were outshone by Miami’s high-scoring duo.
James became the first player to total 40 points and 16 assists since Phoenix’s Kevin Johnson in April 1994.
