NBA Wrap: Pacers beat shorthanded Knicks

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INDIANAPOLIS -- First the Heat, now the Knicks.

The Indiana Pacers are proving they can beat up on everyone in the Eastern Conference these days.

Paul George scored seven of his 25 points during a decisive 13-0 fourth-quarter run, leading the Pacers past New York 81-76 on a night the Knicks were without their top scorer, Carmelo Anthony. Indiana has won 12 of 15 and swept the two other Eastern Conference division leaders this week.

"We want to compete for the one and two (seeds) and for sure want to compete for the No. 1 spot," George said. "We probably could be pushing one or two if we would have started off playing the way we're playing right now."

Clearly, the Knicks (23-12) weren't the same without their All-Star forward, who was suspended for the game after Monday's postgame confrontation with Boston's Kevin Garnett. They finished with a season-low point total, shot just 34.8 percent from the field and 20 percent from 3-point range.

And the Pacers (22-14) took Anthony's absence by pulling off a rare double - beating defending champion Miami and Atlantic Division-leading New York - in back-to-back games (see full recap).

Mavs rally, top Kings in OT
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- O.J. Mayo had 24 points and 10 rebounds, Vince Carter scored 23 points off the bench and the Dallas Mavericks rallied from 17 points down to beat the Sacramento Kings 117-112 in overtime Thursday night.

Shawn Marion added 19 points and 10 rebounds to help the Mavericks snap a four-game losing streak. Dallas, which had lost 10 of 11, finished its short road trip 1-2.

With the franchise's possible sale and relocation to Seattle on the minds of Kings fans, DeMarcus Cousins had 29 points and nine rebounds before getting ejected in overtime for elbowing Carter in the face. Tyreke Evans scored 20 points and Isaiah Thomas had 18 points for the Kings, who lost their third straight game (see full recap).

Blazers beat Heat in thriller
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Wesley Matthews hit a 3-pointer to put Portland in front with 26.9 seconds left and the Trail Blazers hung on to beat the Miami Heat 92-90 for their fourth straight win and ninth straight at the Rose Garden.

The Blazers held LeBron James to 15 points, snapping his 54-game streak with at least 20 points that dated back to last season.

Miami led by as many as 13 points, including a 52-39 advantage at the half, but Nicolas Batum hit a layup and a free throw with 4:03 left that pulled Portland into an 82-all tie. The Blazers couldn't pull ahead and Bosh made a 3 to make it 87-84 with 1:53 left.

Matthews made a 3-pointer to tie it at 88 with just under a minute to go, and after Chris Bosh dunked Matthews hit another 3 to finally give the Blazers a 91-90 lead. LaMarcus Aldridge missed the first of two free throws with 10.4 seconds left for the final margin (see full recap).

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