Pacers halt Cavaliers, Celtics edge Pelicans

LOS ANGELES — The Indiana Pacers erased a 15-point deficit to bring Cleveland’s 12-game NBA winning streak to an emphatic end on Sunday, beating the league-leading Cavaliers 108-93.

Andrew Nembhard scored 19 points, Pascal Siakam added 18 and Myles Turner had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers, who weathered the half-time departure of star guard Tyrese Haliburton with a tight left hamstring.

Indiana handed the Cavaliers just their second home defeat of the season, notching their own sixth straight victory by a double-digit margin.

“It’s nothing to lose,” Nembhard said of the Pacers’ second-half push. “This is the best team in the league right now. We just had to play hard, play together, put some more physicality in the game on the defensive side and play off that.”

Darius Garland scored 20 points and handed out seven assists to lead the Cavaliers, who led 53-40 at halftime and pushed the advantage to 60-45 early in the third quarter.

Pacers forward Bennedict Mathurin and reserve Obi Toppin scored 10 points apiece in the third as Indiana outscored Cleveland 37-18 to turn the tide.

In Boston, Jayson Tatum scored 38 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to fuel the reigning champion Celtics in a 120-119 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Pels, buoyed by the return of Zion Williamson from a one-game team suspension for violating team policy, led by as many as 11 points in the first quarter.

Trey Murphy III scored 30 points and Williamson added 16, but the Celtics eked out the victory despite connecting on just 43.6 percent of their shots from the field and just 13 of 44 from three-point range.