Pacers firm up NBA East lead by beating Celtics
Indiana Pacers’ Lance Stephenson, middle, is hugged by Paul George, left, and Roy Hibbert during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Boston Celtics on Sunday, Dec. 22, 2013, in Indianapolis. Indiana defeated Boston 106-79. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
INDIANAPOLIS — Eastern Conference-leading Indiana beat sliding Boston 106-79 on Sunday, with Paul George scoring 24 points and Lance Stephenson recording his third triple-double of the season.
Elsewhere, Oklahoma City suffered its first home loss of the season at the hands of Toronto, and the Los Angeles Clippers beat Minnesota in overtime.
Indiana’s Stephenson had 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. He is the only player in the NBA with more than one triple-double this season.
Avery Bradley scored 13 points for Boston, which lost its third in a row.
Toronto’s Kyle Lowry made a pair of clinching free throws with 9.8 seconds left and finished with 22 points as the Raptors pulled off a surprise 104-98 win at Oklahoma City.
The Raptors outscored Oklahoma City 6-0 in the final 1:25, all from the free throw line, and ended the Thunder’s nine-game winning streak. Oklahoma City had been 13-0 at home, the NBA’s longest unbeaten stretch to open a season since 2007-08.
Amir Johnson had 17 points and 13 assists for Toronto, which won its fourth straight road game, its longest such streak since 2002.
Russell Westbrook scored 27 points for Oklahoma City, which missed its final four shots.
Los Angeles’ Jared Dudley made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 38 seconds remaining in overtime and Chris Paul made five free throws in the final 19 seconds, leading the Clippers to a 120-116 victory over Minnesota.
Blake Griffin had 32 points and 10 rebounds and was an uncharacteristic 10 for 11 from the free throw line before fouling out with 4:08 left in OT. The defending Pacific Division champions extended their winning streak to a season-best five games while beating the Timberwolves for the eighth straight time, their longest current streak against any opponent.
Kevin Love had a season-high 45 points and tied a season best with 19 rebounds for the Timberwolves.
