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(From the Associated Press) - After being contained in the first half, Danny Granger had a strong second half to keep the Indiana Pacers on a roll at home. Granger scored 25 of his 33 points in the second half, leading the Indiana Pacers to a 102-95 victory over the Kings on Tuesday night for their eighth straight home win. The Pacers’ swingman went 10 of 14 from the field, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range, in the second half...Troy Murphy added 19 points and 13 rebounds, and Roy Hibbert and Earl Watson each scored 10 for the Pacers, who overcame a 15-point deficit in the first half to improve to 28-47. They had their five-game winning streak snapped at Atlanta on Sunday. “We continue a very nice run at home,” Indiana coach Jim O’Brien said. “It’s nice to establish a home-court advantage. The guys are enjoying winning, obviously.” Jason Thompson and Beno Udrih each had 18 points, and Carl Landry finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds for Sacramento (24-51), which has lost five straight. Rookie of the Year candidate Tyreke Evans, who missed the previous five games due to a concussion, had 17 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and four steals. “We didn’t come out with the same energy we had in the first half,” Evans said. “They were the home team and took advantage of it.”
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(From the Associated Press) - For three quarters, Kevin Durant put on quite a show for about 50 friends and family members who made the short trip up I-95 from his hometown of Washington, D.C. There was no need to play for most of the fourth while his teammates were adding to a big lead. Durant had 26 points and 10 rebounds, Jeff Green added 16 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder cruised to a 111-93 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday. “It’s big to see fans with the Oklahoma City jerseys on,” Durant said. “I don’t care if it’s my jersey. I care about Oklahoma City jerseys. I know a lot of the jerseys were for me because I had a lot of family here. It was extra special to get a win here.” Nenad Krstic added 14 points and Russell Westbrook had 10 points and 14 assists for the Thunder (45-28), who swept the season series from Philadelphia for the first time since 1998-99...James Harden had 12 points and Serge Ibaka 10 for Oklahoma City, which is nearing its first playoff appearance since 2004-05 as the Seattle SuperSonics. Elton Brand scored 22 points, Andre Iguodala added 21 and Jrue Holiday had 11 for the Sixers, who had their two-game winning streak snapped. “We were close for a while, and then the beginning of the fourth quarter, they kind of exploded on us,” Brand said. Philadelphia still has not won at least three in a row since a five-game streak between Jan. 31-Feb. 9. “I think we missed some easy shots,” Holiday said. “They got in transition and got some momentum in the fourth and we didn’t recover.” Marreese Speights and Rodney Carney added 10 points each.
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(From the Associated Press) - Steve Nash was at his darting best in the final two minutes, paving the way for the Phoenix Suns’ eight straight victory on a night they clinched a playoff spot. In a 111-105 victory over Chicago, Nash had the Bulls guessing: will he shoot, drive, dump it inside or kick it back out? And with Chicago’s Kirk Hinrich sidelined in the second half with a sprained ankle, Nash had room to work. In a frantic final stretch, Nash drove to the lane and turned around for a jumper. Seconds later, he maneuvered his way back to the basket and used his familiar scoop shot to score and start a three-point play. He found Channing Frye for a clutch tiebreaking 3-pointer with 41.6 seconds left, passed to Grant Hill for a dunk and then hit two free throws to finish off his 22-point, 10-assist night...Jason Richardson led the Suns with 27 points and Amare Stoudemire had 21 points—13 in the first quarter—and 11 rebounds. The Suns are currently in fourth in the West...Flip Murray and Derrick Rose, who kept Chicago close down the stretch with 10 points in the final period, had 23 points each. The Bulls are 1 1/2 games behind Toronto for the eighth playoff spot in East. “They hit big shots and made big plays and there was nothing we could do about it,” Rose said. “We’re still trying to make a push for the playoffs.”
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(From the Associated Press) - Andrew Bogut believes the Milwaukee Bucks have just started seeing the rough play that marks the end of the season and the beginning of the playoffs. If so, rookie Brandon Jennings appears to be ready to step into any situation. Jennings scored 17 points and went the extra distance to protect Bogut, leading Milwaukee past the Los Angeles Clippers 107-89 on Tuesday night to secure a .500 record for the Bucks for the first time in six years. “There’s a time and place for that,” Bogut said of Jennings’ swagger and actions. “Tonight was one of them.” It was a tension-filled scene late in the third quarter that had its moments of humor, too. After a pair of hard picks between Clippers guard Steve Blake and Bogut, the two stood toe-to-toe near center court jawing. While Bogut had a huge height and weight advantage on Blake, Jennings rushed in and received a technical for escalating the situation...These Bucks won’t be pushed around by anyone, turning into just the type of scrappy, hard-scrabble group that coach Scott Skiles envisioned when he took over in 2008. Jennings, who had six assists and five rebounds, was 14 the last time Milwaukee (41-32) finished with a winning record...Though the Clippers beat Milwaukee on March 17 in L.A., this one wasn’t close despite double-doubles from Chris Kaman (17 points and 10 rebounds), Drew Gooden (20 and 11) and DeAndre Jordan (11 and 13).
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(From the Associated Press) - The Houston Rockets weren’t great on Tuesday night, but pretty good was enough to beat a Washington Wizards team that hasn’t won in more than a month. Rookie Chase Budinger hit a go-ahead jump shot with 28 seconds remaining and made two free throws to help the Rockets escape with a 98-94 win over the struggling Wizards. The win breaks a four-game skid for the Rockets and extends Washington’s team-record losing streak to 16 games...In this matchup of banged-up and undermanned squads, it seemed for most of the game that neither team would pull away. The Rockets finally did, thanks to Budinger’s career-high 24-points, to win their first game since Kevin Martin has been out of the lineup with a sore shoulder. Budinger’s jumper made it 94-92 and he added the free throws after a missed 3-point attempt by Earl Boykins. “He bailed us out tonight,” Rockets coach Rick Adelman said of Budinger. “Ran that play perfectly. I told him to bank it and he banked it.” Budinger said hitting a couple of layups early, helped build his confidence for success later in the game. Mike Miller cut the lead to two points with a tip-in with five seconds left, but Kyle Lowry made two free throws to secure the win. Andray Blatche scored 31 points and had 10 rebounds to lead the Wizards and Miller added 14 points and 12 rebounds...Houston got 16 points from Scola and 14 points from Jermaine Taylor. Aaron Brooks added 11 points and had 11 assists for the Rockets.
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(From the Associated Press) - After being contained in the first half, Danny Granger had a strong second half to keep the Indiana Pacers on a roll at home. Granger scored 25 of his 33 points in the second half, leading the Indiana Pacers to a 102-95 victory over the Kings on Tuesday night for their eighth straight home win. The Pacers’ swingman went 10 of 14 from the field, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range, in the second half...Troy Murphy added 19 points and 13 rebounds, and Roy Hibbert and Earl Watson each scored 10 for the Pacers, who overcame a 15-point deficit in the first half to improve to 28-47. They had their five-game winning streak snapped at Atlanta on Sunday. “We continue a very nice run at home,” Indiana coach Jim O’Brien said. “It’s nice to establish a home-court advantage. The guys are enjoying winning, obviously.” Jason Thompson and Beno Udrih each had 18 points, and Carl Landry finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds for Sacramento (24-51), which has lost five straight. Rookie of the Year candidate Tyreke Evans, who missed the previous five games due to a concussion, had 17 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and four steals. “We didn’t come out with the same energy we had in the first half,” Evans said. “They were the home team and took advantage of it.”
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(From the Associated Press) - For three quarters, Kevin Durant put on quite a show for about 50 friends and family members who made the short trip up I-95 from his hometown of Washington, D.C. There was no need to play for most of the fourth while his teammates were adding to a big lead. Durant had 26 points and 10 rebounds, Jeff Green added 16 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder cruised to a 111-93 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday. “It’s big to see fans with the Oklahoma City jerseys on,” Durant said. “I don’t care if it’s my jersey. I care about Oklahoma City jerseys. I know a lot of the jerseys were for me because I had a lot of family here. It was extra special to get a win here.” Nenad Krstic added 14 points and Russell Westbrook had 10 points and 14 assists for the Thunder (45-28), who swept the season series from Philadelphia for the first time since 1998-99...James Harden had 12 points and Serge Ibaka 10 for Oklahoma City, which is nearing its first playoff appearance since 2004-05 as the Seattle SuperSonics. Elton Brand scored 22 points, Andre Iguodala added 21 and Jrue Holiday had 11 for the Sixers, who had their two-game winning streak snapped. “We were close for a while, and then the beginning of the fourth quarter, they kind of exploded on us,” Brand said. Philadelphia still has not won at least three in a row since a five-game streak between Jan. 31-Feb. 9. “I think we missed some easy shots,” Holiday said. “They got in transition and got some momentum in the fourth and we didn’t recover.” Marreese Speights and Rodney Carney added 10 points each.
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(From the Associated Press) - Steve Nash was at his darting best in the final two minutes, paving the way for the Phoenix Suns’ eight straight victory on a night they clinched a playoff spot. In a 111-105 victory over Chicago, Nash had the Bulls guessing: will he shoot, drive, dump it inside or kick it back out? And with Chicago’s Kirk Hinrich sidelined in the second half with a sprained ankle, Nash had room to work. In a frantic final stretch, Nash drove to the lane and turned around for a jumper. Seconds later, he maneuvered his way back to the basket and used his familiar scoop shot to score and start a three-point play. He found Channing Frye for a clutch tiebreaking 3-pointer with 41.6 seconds left, passed to Grant Hill for a dunk and then hit two free throws to finish off his 22-point, 10-assist night...Jason Richardson led the Suns with 27 points and Amare Stoudemire had 21 points—13 in the first quarter—and 11 rebounds. The Suns are currently in fourth in the West...Flip Murray and Derrick Rose, who kept Chicago close down the stretch with 10 points in the final period, had 23 points each. The Bulls are 1 1/2 games behind Toronto for the eighth playoff spot in East. “They hit big shots and made big plays and there was nothing we could do about it,” Rose said. “We’re still trying to make a push for the playoffs.”
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(From the Associated Press) - Andrew Bogut believes the Milwaukee Bucks have just started seeing the rough play that marks the end of the season and the beginning of the playoffs. If so, rookie Brandon Jennings appears to be ready to step into any situation. Jennings scored 17 points and went the extra distance to protect Bogut, leading Milwaukee past the Los Angeles Clippers 107-89 on Tuesday night to secure a .500 record for the Bucks for the first time in six years. “There’s a time and place for that,” Bogut said of Jennings’ swagger and actions. “Tonight was one of them.” It was a tension-filled scene late in the third quarter that had its moments of humor, too. After a pair of hard picks between Clippers guard Steve Blake and Bogut, the two stood toe-to-toe near center court jawing. While Bogut had a huge height and weight advantage on Blake, Jennings rushed in and received a technical for escalating the situation...These Bucks won’t be pushed around by anyone, turning into just the type of scrappy, hard-scrabble group that coach Scott Skiles envisioned when he took over in 2008. Jennings, who had six assists and five rebounds, was 14 the last time Milwaukee (41-32) finished with a winning record...Though the Clippers beat Milwaukee on March 17 in L.A., this one wasn’t close despite double-doubles from Chris Kaman (17 points and 10 rebounds), Drew Gooden (20 and 11) and DeAndre Jordan (11 and 13).
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(From the Associated Press) - The Houston Rockets weren’t great on Tuesday night, but pretty good was enough to beat a Washington Wizards team that hasn’t won in more than a month. Rookie Chase Budinger hit a go-ahead jump shot with 28 seconds remaining and made two free throws to help the Rockets escape with a 98-94 win over the struggling Wizards. The win breaks a four-game skid for the Rockets and extends Washington’s team-record losing streak to 16 games...In this matchup of banged-up and undermanned squads, it seemed for most of the game that neither team would pull away. The Rockets finally did, thanks to Budinger’s career-high 24-points, to win their first game since Kevin Martin has been out of the lineup with a sore shoulder. Budinger’s jumper made it 94-92 and he added the free throws after a missed 3-point attempt by Earl Boykins. “He bailed us out tonight,” Rockets coach Rick Adelman said of Budinger. “Ran that play perfectly. I told him to bank it and he banked it.” Budinger said hitting a couple of layups early, helped build his confidence for success later in the game. Mike Miller cut the lead to two points with a tip-in with five seconds left, but Kyle Lowry made two free throws to secure the win. Andray Blatche scored 31 points and had 10 rebounds to lead the Wizards and Miller added 14 points and 12 rebounds...Houston got 16 points from Scola and 14 points from Jermaine Taylor. Aaron Brooks added 11 points and had 11 assists for the Rockets.
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