Pacers Add to Winning Streak

The Indiana Pacers were one of the few teams not to make a trade before Thursday’s deadline. That suited Coach Rick Carlisle just fine.

Over the last three weeks, the Pacers have proved they can win with their current roster -- even without the suspended Ron Artest.

Indiana won a season-high fifth consecutive game Friday night, easily defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers, 106-82, at Indianapolis.

Starting point guard Jamaal Tinsley sat out because of a bruised foot and center Jeff Foster was out because of back spasms, but it still didn’t stop the Pacers from winning for the eighth time in their last 10 games.

“If there was a trade that would have helped us, we would have made it,” Carlisle said. “Coming into the deadline, we had won seven out of nine, so there was no need to panic.”

Stephen Jackson led the Pacers with 28 points, including their last 11 in the fourth quarter.

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Boston 109, Utah 102 -- Antoine Walker had 24 points and 10 rebounds to help the Celtics outlast the Jazz at Salt Lake City in his first game back with Boston since being acquired from the Atlanta Hawks.

Keith McLeod made a three-point basket and a layup with 36 seconds left to get the Jazz to within 103-102 before Ricky Davis and Mark Blount made six consecutive free throws.

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Denver 97, Memphis 94 -- Earl Boykins made two free throws with 10.1 seconds left in overtime at Memphis, Tenn., to help the Nuggets hand the Grizzlies their fourth loss in a row.

Marcus Camby, who had 17 points and 15 rebounds, made two free throws to give the Nuggets a 95-93 lead with 1:08 left in overtime.

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Seattle 98, Minnesota 88 -- Ray Allen scored 24 of his 32 points after halftime, and the SuperSonics rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit at Seattle.

The SuperSonics, who outscored the Timberwolves, 48-23, over the last 14 minutes, extended their lead over them in the Northwest Division to 12 1/2 games.

Kevin Garnett had 31 points for Minnesota, his highest point total since scoring 27 in a 93-90 loss to the Lakers on Jan. 19.

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Chicago 97, Washington 90 -- Gilbert Arenas scored 36 points for the Wizards at Chicago, giving the All-Star 30 or more points for the 12th time in 17 games. But it wasn’t enough to beat the Bulls, who moved a season-high four games over .500 (28-24).

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Portland 102, Atlanta 101 -- The Hawks (10-44) had two chances to win at Portland, Ore. Peja Drobnjak missed a jumper with five seconds left before the ball was knocked out of bounds by the Trail Blazers. Rookie Josh Smith had an open shot at the buzzer, but it missed, and the Hawks lost their 18th consecutive road game.

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New Jersey 93, Charlotte 86 -- Vince Carter scored 28 points, and rookie Nenad Krstic had 25 at East Rutherford, N.J., as the Nets ended a two-game losing streak by beating the Bobcats for the third time this season.

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Toronto 106, Milwaukee 102 -- Jalen Rose made two clinching free throws with 11 seconds left for the Raptors, who never trailed at Milwaukee.