Against Thunder Nuggets enjoy sweet taste of 13th straight

OKLAHOMA CITY: Andre Miller scored 13 of his season-best 20 points in the fourth quarter as the Denver Nuggets beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 114-104 Tuesday night for their first 13-game winning streak since joining the NBA.
A big performance on his 37th birthday started with an inspirational speech and finished with Miller’s play doing all the talking for him.
“He’s a coach and a teacher and a veteran, and he does it every day in a very classy way, a very quiet way,” coach George Karl said. “And then he can do what he did tonight, where he can take the most talented team maybe in the NBA and be the best player on the court for the last 6 minutes of the game.”
The Nuggets trailed by one at halftime but took control in the third quarter and never let Oklahoma City reclaim the lead. Denver moved within 31/2 games of the Thunder in the Northwest Division and became the first team this season to beat Oklahoma City three times.
Denver’s previous longest winning streak since the 1976 ABA-NBA merger was 12 straight in 1982. The club won 15 in a row in the 1969-70 ABA season.
“It’s cool. I’m sure a lot of people didn’t think we would get this game, but we talked about having some pride, working hard and practicing,” Miller said. “We put in a lot of work to get to this point, so at least we came out and gave a good effort and it paid off.”
Ty Lawson led Denver with 25 points. Miller also had nine assists and seven rebounds in 23 effective minutes.
Kevin Durant had 34 points and Westbrook chipped in 25 for Oklahoma City.
Pacers 95 Magic 73: In Indianapolis, Paul George scored 19 points and Tyler Hansbrough had 14 points and 14 rebounds, leading Indiana to a rout of struggling Orlando.
The Pacers improved to 27-8 at home despite playing without second-leading scorer David West because of a sprained lower back.
Maurice Harkless and Arron Afflalo each had 10 points for the Magic, who lost their fourth straight on a night they shot just 31.8 percent from the field and coach Jacque Vaughn was ejected in a flurry of four technical fouls with 4:47 left in the third quarter.
The Pacers led 62-44 in the third and the Magic could get no closer than 12 the rest of the way.
Bucks 102 Trail Blazers 95: In Milwaukee, Brandon Jennings scored 24 points and Monta Ellis added 21 to help Milwaukee hang on for a victory over Portland.
Ellis added nine rebounds, eight assists, three steals and matched a career high with three blocks for Milwaukee, which outscored Portland 31-8 in the second quarter — the Trail Blazers’ fewest points in any period this season. The Blazers shot a woeful 2 for 20 from the field in the quarter.
Portland fought back with 64 second-half points to make things interesting.
Wesley Matthews hit seven 3-pointers and scored 28 points, and LaMarcus Aldridge added 21 points and 14 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who lost for the 10th time in their last 11 road games.
Kings 116 Clippers 101: In Sacramento, California, Marcus Thornton had 25 points and Toney Douglas scored 17 of his 19 in the fourth quarter as the Sacramento Kings rallied from eight down in the final 11 minutes to stun the Los Angeles Clippers 116-101.
DeMarcus Cousins and Tyreke Evans added 17 points apiece for the Kings, who beat the Pacific Division-leading Clippers for the first time in more than two years.
They did it behind a stellar effort off the bench from Thornton and a smothering defense that held Los Angeles to just five buckets in the final quarter.
Blake Griffin had three of them and finished with 26 points, four rebounds and five assists for the Clippers. Los Angeles has lost four of its last seven.