Pacers rout Clippers to stay in the lead

Paul George and Lance Stephenson scored 36 and 22 points respectively in the Indiana Pacers’ 106-92 rout of the Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA.

George and Stephenson continued their push toward NBA All-Star Game bids in leading the Pacers, to their fourth straight victory.

The Central Division-leading Pacers improved to 32-7 while the Clippers, who lead the Pacific Division, fell to 28-14 as they saw a five-game winning streak stopped.

George has averaged 30.7 points in the past three games.

LeBron James had 34 points, eight rebounds and six assists as the Miami Heat, missing Dwyane Wade, pulled out a 104-96 overtime win over the Charlotte Bobcats.

The Heat scored the first four points of overtime and never trailed in the extra session, outscoring the Bobcats 14-6 after the teams were tied at 90 at the end of regulation.

The Heat raised their record to 29-11 and won for the second straight night after losing three in a row earlier on this six-game road trip while the Bobcats dropped to 17-25.

Josh Smith scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half and Rodney Stuckey had 20 as the Detroit Pistons rallied during the third quarter for a 104-98 win over the Washington Wizards.

Kyle Singler added 14 points and Greg Monroe had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Pistons (17-23).

John Wall scored 34 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, and Martell Webster had 15 for the Wizards (19-20).

The Minnesota Timberwolves clobbered the Utah Jazz 98-72.

The Wolves limited the Jazz to 23 first-half points, led by 28 before halftime and by as many as 36 after intermission against a Utah team that won by 21 points in Detroit the night before.

The Wolves ended a three-game losing streak and got back within two games of .500 (19-21) after a 27-point night from Nikola Pekovic and an 18-point, 13-rebound game from Kevin Love.

Terrence Jones scored a career-high 36 points with an exceptional shooting performance as the Houston Rockets ran to a 114-104 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Jones matched his career high of 25 points in the first half and converted 12 consecutive shots from the field during one stretch.

Joakim Noah produced 21 points and 16 rebounds as the Chicago Bulls rolled to a 103-78 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

The margin of victory was the largest this season for the Bulls, who led by as many as 36 points.

The NBA’s surprise team of the season, the Portland Trail Blazers, hit a recent snag but bounced back with five consecutive victories, the latest being a near-flawless 127-111 domination of the Dallas Mavericks.

At 31-9, the Blazers moved into a tie with the Spurs atop the rugged Western Conference while the Mavs dropped to 24-18.

Dallas native LaMarcus Aldridge always has monster performances in his hometown and he did so again with a team-high 30 points and 12 rebounds.

The Golden State Warriors produced a 97-87 comeback victory over the New Orleans Pelicans to improve their road record to 14-11 and get to 26-16 on the season.

Stephen Curry’s team-high 28 points lifted the Warriors to their seventh consecutive victory over New Orleans.