Porter leads Wizards in wire-to-wire victory
INDIANAPOLIS -- Otto Porter Jr. had 25 points and eight rebounds, and the Washington Wizards led from start to finish Thursday night in a 111-98 victory against the struggling Indiana Pacers.
Washington (34-21) also got 21 points and seven rebounds from Markieff Morris, John Wall had 20 points and 12 assists and Bradley Beal added 19 points on a night when the Wizards shot 51.8 percent.
Myles Turner and Paul George each had 17 points to lead the Pacers (29-28), who lost six in a row. George made only 6 of 19 shots, including 1 of 7 from 3-point range.
Indiana allowed at least 110 points in each contest of this six-game losing streak.
Rodney Stuckey's 3-pointer with 6:47 left sliced the Washington lead to 97-90 after the Wizards led by 14 earlier in the fourth quarter. But a Wall jumper and a Porter 3-pointer pushed Washington's advantage to 102-90.
Wall's layup gave the Wizards an 82-69 lead with 3:11 remaining in the third quarter. Washington led 90-77 after three quarters, shooting 52.3 percent through 36 minutes, including 12 of 23 from 3-point range.
Washington increased its lead to 62-52 at halftime, outscoring Indiana 28-25 in the second quarter. Porter finished the half with 18 points, Morris had 12 and Beal added 11. The Wizards shot 51.1 percent through 24 minutes.
Turner had nine first-half points for Indiana, and Kevin Seraphin added eight. The Pacers also made 23 of 45 field goal attempts in the opening two quarters.
Porter made 5 of 6 first-quarter attempts from 3-point range, helping the Wizards lead 34-27 through 12 minutes. Washington shot 59.1 percent during the first period, including 7 of 10 from beyond the arc. Porter finished the quarter with 15 points.
Seraphin had six first-quarter points to lead Indiana, which shot 57.1 percent in the opening 12 minutes, staying close in part by out rebounding the Wizards 11-6.
NOTES: The Pacers were without starting F Thaddeus Young (sprained left wrist) and backup F Lavoy Allen (sore right knee). Kevin Seraphin started in place of Young/Allen. ... Glenn Robinson III started for Indiana at G in place of C.J. Miles. ... The Pacers were playing the second of a back-to-back, having lost Wednesday night at Cleveland 113-104. ... The Wizards came in leading the NBA in opponents' turnovers per game (15.6) and third in field goal percentage (47.7). ... Indiana ranked second in free throw percentage (81.1) and sixth in steals per game (8.4). ... The Wizards and Pacers split two earlier meetings, Indiana winning 107-105 on Dec. 19 in Indianapolis and Washington winning 111-105 on Dec. 28 in the Verizon Center before the Wizards won 112-107 on Friday in Washington.