Pacers 102, Nets 98
Roy Hibbert scored 24 points and Danny Granger had 17 of his 20 points in the second half as the visiting Indiana Pacers won their seventh straight game against the New Jersey Nets, 102-98 on Monday.
Josh McRoberts and Brandon Rush combined for 24 points off the bench, and Darren Collison had 15 points and 12 assists for the Pacers (31-40), who won for the fourth time in six games and moved two games ahead of idle Charlotte for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference. Indiana visits the Bobcats on Wednesday.
Indiana used a 29-17 third quarter to take a 69-61 lead entering the fourth, and maintained a comfortable margin until a late 3-point barrage by Sasha Vujacic got the Nets within 98-95 with 40 seconds left. Sundiata Gaines and Vujacic missed potential game-tying 3-pointers down the stretch.
Brook Lopez scored 20 points for his 11th straight 20-point game and Gaines scored a career-high 18 points as the Nets (22-47) dropped their fourth straight and played a second straight game without Deron Williams, who is nursing a right wrist injury.
Hibbert, who shot 10 of 14 from the floor and added three blocks, had six or fewer points in four of his last seven games.