Miller Tops 25,000 in Defeating Spurs

Reggie Miller is still scoring points and setting standards. All he wants now are wins.

Miller continued his late-season resurgence Wednesday night, scoring 21 points and becoming the 13th player in league history to top 25,000 career points as he led the Indiana Pacers past the San Antonio Spurs, 100-93, at Indianapolis.

“It’s a nice accomplishment, obviously, to do it in front of the home crowd,” Miller said. “But more importantly, it keeps us in the playoff hunt.”

The victory helped seventh-place Indiana (34-33) stay ahead of Philadelphia (33-34), Orlando (32-35) and New Jersey (32-36) in the battle for the final two Eastern Conference playoff berths.

Meanwhile, the Spurs fell 1 1/2 games behind Phoenix in the race for the best record in the West with their first three-game losing streak of the season, which follows Tim Duncan’s bad ankle sprain Sunday. Duncan is sidelined indefinitely.

Miller now has 25,013 points and is chasing Jerry West (25,192) for 12th on the all-time scoring list.

“There was a lot of hard work, not only from myself, but I had a lot of teammates along the way that were willing to sacrifice,” Miller said.

Brent Barry had 17 points for the Spurs.

New York 107, Boston 82 -- In a game featuring seven technical fouls and a flagrant foul in the first half, Jamal Crawford had 21 points at New York to help end the Celtics’ seven-game winning streak and prevent a sweep of the season series.

Boston suffered its most lopsided loss of the season and was defeated for only the second time in the 13 games since reacquiring Antoine Walker, who had 13 points on five-for-20 shooting. Paul Pierce had only five points on two-for-five shooting.

Philadelphia 107, Detroit 84 -- Allen Iverson toyed with the Pistons’ unusually anemic defense, finishing with 39 points and 10 assists in the 76ers’ victory at Philadelphia.

Teammate Andre Iguodala had a rare rookie triple-double, finishing with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the 76ers, who made their first eight shots and led by 14 points in the first quarter.

Detroit lost its second in a row after a five-game winning streak.

Dallas 109, Golden State 97 -- Dirk Nowitzki had 29 points and Keith Van Horn had 24 at Oakland for the Mavericks in a game featuring 12 technical fouls and plenty of trash talk.

Nowitzki also traded shoves with Baron Davis and Jason Richardson in a feisty game in which Warrior forward Mike Dunleavy tossed his jersey into the crowd after he uncharacteristically had to be restrained by teammates while arguing a referee’s call and was ejected in the third quarter.

Phoenix 120, Charlotte 105 -- Shawn Marion had 26 points and 10 rebounds to help the Suns to a franchise record 28th road victory. The victory was also Phoenix’s ninth in a row on the road, tying the club record.

Minnesota 107, New Orleans 102 -- Kevin Garnett had 24 points and 13 rebounds to help the host Timberwolves move within 2 1/2 games of Denver for the final Western Conference playoff berth.

Meanwhile, Minnesota forward Mark Madsen will sit out the rest of the season because of a ruptured ligament in his right wrist.

Chicago 94, Toronto 85 -- Eddy Curry scored 16 points at Toronto, and the Bulls led by as many as 21 points in beating the Raptors for the eighth straight time. Chicago also won its third in a row.