George's 27 points lead Pacers over Celtics 97-82

BOSTON (AP) Paul George scored 27 points and led a comeback from an eight-point halftime deficit to help the Indiana Pacers improve on the best record in the Eastern Conference with a 97-82 win over the Boston Celtics on Friday night.

Trailing 50-42 at halftime, George had 22 points in the second half as Indiana outscored Boston 55-32 in the final quarters to improve to 11-1.

David West and Luis Scola had 17 points each for Indiana, which had lost its previous four games against Boston.

Jordan Crawford had a season-high 24 points, but just five in the second half, and Jeff Green added 20 for the Celtics, who lost their sixth straight to drop to 4-10 after winning four in a row.

The rebuilding Celtics played impressively in the first half against a team that had won five of its first 11 games by at least 10 points. But Boston had more turnovers, nine, than points in the third period. And West outscored Boston's entire team in the quarter with 10 points.

Indiana had won its first nine games before struggling as it began a three-game road trip. It lost to Chicago 110-94 then went to overtime before beating the New York Knicks 103-96 Wednesday night.

In Philadelphia, Evan Turner scored 27 points and Spencer Hawes scored 11 of his 25 points in the final two minutes of regulation and overtime to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 115-107 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks that ended a four-game losing streak.

The Sixers were trailing 98-88 with 2:10 to play and rallied to force overtime with a 14-4 run that featured three 3-pointers from Hawes, including a fall-away at the end of regulation. Hawes also had 12 rebounds.

In Minneapolis, Kevin Love had 17 points, 16 rebounds and four assists in just 28 minutes, and the Timberwolves beat Kevin Garnett for the first time since he left Minnesota in a 111-81 victory over the woeful Brooklyn Nets.

Garnett finished with eight points and eight rebounds in 21 minutes. He had been 7-0 against the Wolves since being traded to Boston in 2007.

Also Saturday, Anthony Davis had 17 points and 13 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans erased a 12-point deficit in the final 5 minutes to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 104-100 and Tony Parker scored 20 points as the San Antonio Spurs pulled away for a 102-86 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.

In other games, the Atlanta Hawks beat the Detroit Pistons 96- 89, the Dallas Mavericks accounted for the Utah Jazz 103 -93 and the Phoenix Suns edged the Charlotte Bobcats 98-91.