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Monday, January 23, 2012

Roundup: Pacers deal Lakers third loss in a row - Reno Gazette-Journal

LOS ANGELES (AP) â€" Roy Hibbert scored eight of his 18 points in the fourth quarter playing with a broken nose, and five of his teammates also scored in double figures to help the Indiana Pacers beat the Los Angeles Lakers 98-96 on Sunday night.

Kobe Bryant scored 33 points for the Lakers, but missed what would have been a tying three-pointer from 30 feet from the top of the key with 3.5 seconds to play and the Pacers clinched it at the free throw line.

The Pacers (11-5) are off to their best start since 2003-04, when they won 14 of their first 16, finished the regular season 61-21 and came within two wins of getting to the NBA Finals.

The Lakers, coming off road losses to Miami and Orlando, failed to reach 100 points for the 11th consecutive game â€" their longest streak since a 12-game stretch in 2003-04.

Hibbert, the Pacers' second-leading scorer, left the court with the broken nose after fouling Bryant with 6:46 left in the first quarter. Tyler Hansbrough replaced Hibbert and missed all five shots during Hibbert's brief absence, but grabbed seven rebounds.

Hibbert reported back in with 5:12 left in the second quarter after a trainer stuffed cotton up his nose, but he had difficulty keeping it in at times. He also had eight rebounds in 27 minutes.

Bryant beat the third-quarter buzzer with a 16-footer from the right of the key to give the Lakers a 78-77 lead, and former Pacers forward Troy Murphy got his first points of the game on a 3 that made it 82-77.

Hibbert, more than willing to get his nose dirty, scored six consecutive points in the paint to cut the margin to one with 6:15 left, and former UCLA guard Darren Collison's three-pointer tied it at 86 with 5:32 left.

West ended the first half with a buzzer-beating three-pointer from the top of the key, capping a 15-6 run and slicing the Lakers' 13-point lead to three at 52-49. He finished the half with 15 points, helping offset 17 by Bryant. Danny Granger's three-pointer 1:37 into the third quarter gave Indiana a 55-54 lead, its first since Paul George's game-opening dunk.

Clippers 103, Raptors 91

LOS ANGELES (AP) â€" Mo Williams scored 19 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, Blake Griffin had 18 points and nine rebounds, and the Los Angeles Clippers sent the Toronto Raptors to their eighth consecutive loss, 103-91 on Sunday.

DeAndre Jordan had 16 points and 16 rebounds and Chauncey Billups had 14 assists for the Clippers, playing their fifth consecutive game without point guard Chris Paul because of a left hamstring strain.

Caron Butler finished with 15 points for Los Angeles.

Nets 97, Bobcats 87

NEWARK (AP) â€" Deron Williams had 19 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists to lead New Jersey to a victory over Charlotte.

Williams' near triple double would have been the first of the season for the Nets, who improved to 5-12 on the season.

MarShon Brooks added 20 points for the Nets, while Anthony Morrow added 19 points.

Rookie Kemba Walker led the Bobcats with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists. Gerald Henderson had 15 points while Bismack Biyombo and Derrick Brown had 11 each.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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