Roundup: Indiana's Granger hits Suns for 37, including buzzer-beater
CBSSports.com wire reports
PHOENIX -- Danny Granger scored 37 points, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer that gave the Indiana Pacers a 113-110 victory against the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday.
With the score tied and 0.9 seconds left, Mike Dunleavy inbounded the ball to Granger and he connected, thwarting a furious Phoenix comeback.
It was the third straight game that Granger scored at least 35 points. He had 35 and 36 in his previous two games.
The win ended Indiana's seven-game losing streak to the Suns and prevented Phoenix from posting its first four-game winning streak of the season.
Granger tied it at 110 with a 20-foot jumper from behind the key with 34.9 seconds remaining. The Suns had taken the lead for the first time on Leandro Barbosa's 3-pointer with 45.4 seconds left.
Dunleavy scored 14 points for the Pacers in his first game this season. Stephen Graham had 13, Troy Murphy 12, Jarret Jack 11 and Rasho Nesterovic 10.
Amare Stoudemire led Phoenix with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Grant Hill and Barbosa had 18 apiece, Steve Nash and Jason Richardson added 16 each, and Louis Amundson had a career-high 14 rebounds and nine points. Nash also had 12 assists. Full story
Cavaliers 111, Bobcats 81
CLEVELAND -- The Celtics are coming. The Cavaliers are ready.
LeBron James scored 21 points before grabbing an early seat on the bench, Mo Williams added 15 points and Cleveland warmed up for its highly anticipated matchup with Boston by blowing out the Charlotte Bobcats and raising the Cavaliers' record at home to 18-0.
19-0 isn't a given.
On Friday, the defending NBA champions will arrive for a game pitting the Eastern Conference's premier powers, a rematch of last season's heated seven-game conference semifinal and a possible tease of what could come this spring. Boston holds a 1-0 edge this season after beating Cleveland 90-85 at home in its opener, when the green-and-white raised their 17th title banner beforehand as the Cavs waited in their locker room.
Timberwolves 129, Thunder 87
MINNEAPOLIS -- Randy Foye and the Minnesota Timberwolves are on their first roll of the season.
Foye equaled his career high with 32 points in only three quarters and the Wolves beat the Oklahoma City Thunder for their fourth straight victory.
Al Jefferson added 21 points and 13 rebounds for Minnesota, which has won six of its last eight following a 13-game losing streak.
Russell Westbrook had 16 points and a career-high 12 assists for the Thunder, who were overwhelmed in every phase of the game.
Raptors 99, Wizards 93
WASHINGTON -- Down to nine players, the Toronto Raptors still easily beat the worst-in-the-East Washington Wizards, with Andrea Bargnani scoring 25 points and Chris Bosh adding 18.
The crowd was sparse and the atmosphere dull for a game between two losing teams that fired their head coaches this season and are missing a half-dozen starters combined.
Toronto's 21-point lead was cut to as few as five in the fourth quarter, and the advantage was only six at 89-83 with a little more than two minutes left. But that's when Bosh set up Bargnani for a 3-pointer that effectively sealed the outcome.
Bargnani, the Italian who was the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2006, went 4-for-5 on 3s, and 4-for-4 on other field-goal attempts. Bosh scored half his points in the fourth quarter and finished with eight rebounds and six assists.
76ers 110, Bucks 105
MILWAUKEE -- Andre Miller hit a 3-pointer with 28 seconds left, finishing with 28 points and nine rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers held on for a rare road victory.
Sixers coach Tony DiLeo challenged his team to make at least five 3s one game after he thought the Sixers were being tentative because they were the worst long-distance shooting team in the NBA at 29.5 percent.
Trailing by six to start the fourth quarter, the Sixers started taking -- and making -- their shots from behind the arc. They finished 8-of-15, but none was bigger than Miller's 3 that answered a Bucks rally.
Luke Ridnour's 3-pointer cut to it 104-103 with 49 seconds to play, but Miller went right back down the floor and answered with his own 3 to push the lead to 107-103.
