Pacers beat Hornets with late surge
Los Angeles, United States: Victor Oladipo and Myles Turner combined for 47 points as the Indiana Pacers won their second straight with a 105-96 win over the struggling Charlotte Hornets on Monday.
The teams battled back and forth for the first three quarters before the Pacers pulled away late in the fourth with a 13-4 run.
Oladipo sparked the surge with a 19-footer and by the time the run was over, the Pacers had boosted their lead to 94-86 with six minutes remaining. They took over after that.
Oladipo scored a team-high 25 points for the Pacers, who have won two in a row and four of five.
Kemba Walker finished with 23 points and three three-pointers to lead the Hornets, who have lost two straight games and four of six.
Dwight Howard had 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Nicolas Batum made five threes and finished with 22 points for Charlotte.
A Turner three-pointer started a 7-0 run that extended the lead to 103-89 with 2:46 left. That marked the biggest lead of the game for Indiana.
Charlotte eventually cut the deficit to single digits in the final minute of the contest that included 18 lead changes.
The Pacers' next game is Wednesday, when they host Memphis.
Elsewhere, Kent Bazemore scored 22 points, including a tiebreaking three-pointer with 2:09 remaining, and the Atlanta Hawks rallied after trailing by 11 in the third quarter to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 105-100.
