Pacers 102, Mavericks 89
Brandon Rush scored 20 points and Darren Collison and Danny Granger added 17 apiece as the host Indiana Pacers put together consecutive wins for the first time since November with a 102-89 victory over the shorthanded Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday.
Rookie Paul George chipped in 16 points off the bench for the Pacers, who opened January with three straight losses but have won two in a row for the first time since Nov. 28-30.
Knotted at 52-52 at the half, Indiana began to wear down Dallas in the third quarter, allowing just 17 points and opening a 77-69 edge heading into the final 12 minutes. The fourth quarter was the same story as George drained a pair of 3-pointers in the first two minutes to keep the Pacers clear.
Dallas got no closer than seven points thereafter, and Indiana closed the game with a 9-2 burst to push it back to double digits.
Jason Terry scored 18 points off the bench for the Mavericks, who dropped to 2-6 in eight games since superstar Dirk Nowitzki went down with a knee injury.