Spurs, Thunder, Pacers grab huge 2-0 lead
SAN ANTONIO—San Antonio, Oklahoma City and Indiana all took big strides toward the next stage of the NBA playoffs by winning their home games on Wednesday and taking 2-0 series leads.
San Antonio’s Tony Parker had 28 points and seven assists as the Spurs beat the Los Angeles Lakers 102-91, Oklahoma City Thunder squandered a 15-point fourth-quarter lead but regrouped to edge the Houston Rockets 105-102 and Indiana’s Paul George had his highest-scoring playoff game with 27 points to lead the Pacers to a 113-98 win over the Atlanta Hawks.
San Antonio’s Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard had 16 points each while Manu Ginobili added 13 points and Matt Bonner had 10.
Dwight Howard and Steve Blake had 16 points each to lead Los Angeles. Metta World Peace (formerly Ron Artest) and Pau Gasol added 13 points each, but no other player had more than nine as the Lakers shot 45 percent from the field.
Game 3 is Friday in Los Angeles.
Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook both scored 29 points to lead the Thunder over the Rockets.
Durant hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:28 to play, and the Thunder didn’t relinquish the lead after that. Durant missed a free throw with a second left, but Houston was out of timeouts and Carlos Delfino couldn’t connect on a desperation shot at the final buzzer.
Game 3 is Saturday in Houston.
Indiana’s George followed his triple-double in Game 1 with an even more prolific outcome to lead the Pacers past the Hawks.
The Pacers have won four straight home games over the Hawks. It’s the first time Indiana has held a 2-0 series lead since the 2004 Eastern Conference semifinals. AP
