BOSTON -- Isaiah Thomas scored 25 points, Avery Bradley had 18 with eight rebounds and the Boston Celtics beat the Indiana Pacers 109-100 on Wednesday night for their fifth win in six games.
Al Horford added 15 points with eight boards and eight assists, and Jae Crowder also scored 15 points for Boston, which won for the 12th time in 13 home games.
Paul George led the Pacers with 37 points and Jeff Teague had 25. Indiana has alternated by winning and losing in its last 15 games.
The Celtics turned a red-hot shooting third quarter into 39 points, pushing a seven-point halftime lead to 14 after three quarters.
Boston hit 17 of 25 shots from the field, with Marcus Smart's last-second bank shot in the lane capping the shooting. He was fouled on the play and made the free throw, giving the Celtics an 88-74 lead entering the final quarter (see full recap).
Chandler sparks Nuggets' win over Cavs in return
DENVER -- Wilson Chandler scored 18 points in his return from a pulled groin and provided stellar defense on LeBron James in the Denver Nuggets' 126-113 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.
The Nuggets bounced back from consecutive heartbreaking last-second losses to Houston with a signature win that increased their lead to 1 1/2 games over idle Portland in the race for the final playoff spot in the West.
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Will Barton scored 20 points, Kenneth Faried added 17 and Jamal Murray had 15 off the bench for Denver, which also got 21 points from Gary Harris and 16 from Nikola Jokic.
Kyrie Irving lead the Cavs with 33 points but James had just 18 and the two stars sat out much of the fourth quarter with Cleveland trailing by double digits (see full recap).
Beal, Wall help Wizards rally past Hawks
WASHINGTON -- Bradley Beal scored 28 points and John Wall added all 22 of his in the second half to help the Washington Wizards to a 104-100 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night.
Wall also had 10 assists on a night he shot just 6 of 21 from the floor, including two assists to Beal during a late 14-2 run that helped Washington ensure victory after Atlanta had led by as many as 12 early.
Ian Mahinmi had 10 rebounds off the bench as the Wizards used a 55-44 edge on the glass to overcome 40 percent shooting.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 29 points and Dennis Schroder had 18 to lead the Hawks, who fell to their fifth consecutive defeat (see full recap).