LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers won in their first game since their long-time owner Jerry Buss died, beating their mighty rivals the Boston Celtics 113-99 behind 24 points from Dwight Howard Wednesday. Howard also had 12 rebounds and Kobe Bryant finished with 16 points and seven assists as the Lakers celebrated their bittersweet victory over the Celtics, whom they have met 12 times in the NBA Finals. “It was personally very important,” Bryant said of Wednesday's victory. “I know how much it meant to him every time we played the Celtics so this was an important game.” The night of tributes to Buss, who was 80 years old, included a new memorial patch on the Lakers' uniforms with the initials “JB”. A white board was placed outside the main entrance of Staples Center arena where fans could write sympathetic messages before heading into the game. Inside the arena there was a short video tribute to Buss — played on the giant screen before the game — followed by a speech from Bryant and then a moment of silence. Buss died Monday due to kidney failure. Los Angeles led 36-27 after the first quarter and seized a 64-55 lead at halftime before blowing the game open with a 10-2 run to begin the third quarter. Clark finished off one burst of scoring with a dunk to make it 75-57. The Lakers biggest lead reached 22 points in the fourth quarter. Pacers 125, Knicks 91: Paul George scored 27 points and Indiana powered its way closer to the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference by beating New York. David West had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Lance Stephenson added 14 points for Indiana (33-21), which pulled within a half-game of the Knicks for second place in the East. The Pacers shot 53 percent from the field, scored a season-high point total and had a season-best 28 assists against the Atlantic Division leaders. It was Indiana's largest margin of victory this season and New York's worst loss. Tyson Chandler led New York with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Carmelo Anthony, the league's No. 2 scorer, finished with 15 points on 7-for-21 shooting. Rockets 122, Thunder 119: James Harden scored a career-high 46 points and Jeremy Lin added 29 as the Houston mounted a furious fourth-quarter comeback. Houston was down by 14 points with about seven minutes left. The Rockets used a 21-4 run to erase the deficit and take a 114-111 lead with 1:46 remaining. Harden stepped back under heavy pressure from Serge Ibaka to sink a 3 to tie it, before Lin connected on one seconds later to give the Rockets their first lead of the second half. Harden made a bucket before Ibaka made two free throws. Then came another 3 by Lin to extend the lead to 119-113. Thabo Sefolosha led the Thunder with 28 points and had six 3-pointers, both career highs. His previous career high was 22, which he reached twice, most recently in 2008. Westbrook also scored 28 points and added 10 rebounds and eight assists. Kevin Durant had 16 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for his second career triple-double. Heat 103, Hawks 90: Miami scored the first 13 points of the fourth quarter to erase Atlanta's 10-point lead and the Heat, led by LeBron James' 24 points, ended beat the Hawks to extend their season-best winning streak to eight games. Dwyane Wade scored 20 points and Shane Battier had 17, hitting three 3-pointers in the final period. James had 11 assists and six rebounds but could not extend his franchise-record streak of seven straight games with at least 30 points. Nets 97, Bucks 94: Deron Williams scored 23 points and Brooklyn escaped after Monta Ellis missed on a chance to tie the game with three foul shots in the final seconds. Grizzlies 88, Raptors 82: Zach Randolph had 17 points and 18 rebounds, Mike Conley scored 17 points and Memphis won its fifth straight. Cavaliers 105, Hornets 100: Kyrie Irving scored 20 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter to lead Cleveland. Warriors 108, Suns 98: Klay Thompson had 28 points and eight rebounds, David Lee finished with 19 points and 11 boards and Golden State snapped a season-high, six-game losing streak by beating Phoenix. Mavericks 111, Magic 96: Shawn Marion and Elton Brand scored 17 apiece, Vince Carter again provided a spark off the bench and Dallas beat Orlando. Timberwolves 94, 76ers 87: Nikola Pekovic had 27 points and tied a career high with 18 rebounds to power Minnesota. Pistons 105, Bobcats 99: Greg Monroe scored 10 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, stepping up with Brandon Knight on the bench nursing a hyperextended right knee, to lead Detroit. — Agencies
