Duarte Inspires Pacers Victory Over Warriors, Suns Win 5th Straight Game

Chris Duarte led the injury-hit Indiana Pacers to a 121-117 NBA overtime triumph over the Golden State Warriors on Thursday.

One day after shocking LeBron James' Lakers in Los Angeles, the Pacers pulled off another unlikely win in California, inspired by the Dominican rookie.

Duarte stepped up to score a career-best 27 points with seven rebounds and three assists.

"We just stayed together. We played hard defensively, that was the key, getting the stops and then moving the ball. I think we did a great job on both ends of the floor," Duarte stated.

Goga Bitadze started at center for Indiana but was ejected with 6:44 left in regulation after his second technical foul.

Gary Payton II had soared over the towering Georgian for a dunk and his follow-up stare — which also earned a technical — provoked Bitadze into a reaction that got him tossed.

Curry led the Warriors with 39 points but didn’t score in overtime. He missed a three-pointer from the top of the arc with 16.5 seconds left.

Kevon Looney scored 13 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and Klay Thompson, still on limited minutes after an injury absence of more than two years, added 12 for the Warriors.

But they slipped and lost ground to the league-leading Phoenix Suns, who rallied to beat the Dallas Mavericks 109-101 to strengthen their hold on first place in the Western Conference.

Devin Booker scored 28 points and Chris Paul added 20 points and 11 assists for Phoenix, who closed strong to win their fifth game in a row and halt the Mavericks’ winning streak at four.

Luka Doncic, coming off a 41-point performance in a win over Toronto on Wednesday, scored 28 points with eight rebounds and eight assists for Dallas.

The Suns, playing their second straight game without injured starting center Deandre Ayton, trailed 53-45 at halftime and by as many as 12 in the third quarter.

The Suns briefly took the lead in the third quarter, but the Mavs hit back to lead by eight going into the final frame.

But Phoenix wouldn’t go away, out-scoring the Mavs 35-19 in the fourth quarter. Booker said it was “just experience” that allowed the Suns — who fell to the Milwaukee Bucks in last season’s Finals — to keep coming up big when it matters.

Elsewhere, Jonas Valanciunas scored 18 points with 10 rebounds to lead the New Orleans Pelicans to a 102-91 victory over the Knicks in New York.

The Pelicans led by as many as 25 as the Knicks lost their third straight game at Madison Square Garden and fell to 11th in the East, one game outside the final play-in tournament berth.

RJ Barrett and Mitchell Robinson scored 17 points apiece for the Knicks, but forward Julis Randle was held to four points and fellow starters Evan Fournier and Kemba Walker combined to score just 11.