Matthews' last-second put-back keeps Pacers in front of 76ers
The signing of Wesley Matthews was worth it for the Indiana Pacers for at least one game after a surprise win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday.
With the game tied at 106 with less than 10 seconds to play, Matthews capitalised on a put-back off a Bojan Bogdanovic miss to give the Pacers a 108-106 win over the Thunder.
Indiana now lead the Philadelphia 76ers by half a game in the race for the third playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Matthews scored 16 points on six-of-15 shooting and is averaging 12.6 points since joining Indiana in free agency after he was bought out by the New York Knicks.
The Pacers are 44-25 on the season, while Philadelphia are 43-25.
When @WessyWes23 sealed it... pic.twitter.com/uFEoY9Dqf8
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) March 15, 2019
George gigantic for Thunder
Thunder star Paul George scored 36 points while adding six rebounds and five assists in the loss to the Pacers.
Kyrie Irving had a 31-point triple-double with 12 assists and 10 rebounds in the Boston Celtics' 126-120 win over the Sacramento Kings. Buddy Hield had 34 points, seven assists and four rebounds in the game for the Kings as well.
LeBron James had 29 points, six assists and four rebounds, but the Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Toronto Raptors 111-98.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 26 points and 12 rebounds, though the Minnesota Timberwolves fell 120-100 to the Utah Jazz.
Caldwell-Pope struggles
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope could not find the range from the three-point line as he went one-of-eight from beyond the arc with nine points and five rebounds in the Lakers' loss to the Raptors.
Mitchell magic
Donovan Mitchell threw one down on the baseline in the Jazz's win over the Timberwolves.
Donovan Mitchell ATTACKS BASELINE! #TeamIsEverything 118#AllEyesNorth 96
— NBA (@NBA) March 15, 2019
https://t.co/LkzVfwCsdB pic.twitter.com/47EFBq3SMH
Thursday's results
Indiana Pacers 108-106 Oklahoma City Thunder
Orlando Magic 120-91 Cleveland Cavaliers
Boston Celtics 126-120 Sacramento Kings
Toronto Raptors 111-98 Los Angeles Lakers
Utah Jazz 120-100 Minnesota Timberwolves
Denver Nuggets 100-99 Dallas Mavericks
Kings at 76ers
The Kings were unable to make up ground on the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference as they fell to the Celtics on Thursday. Philadelphia fell behind Indiana by half a game with the Pacers' win over the Thunder. Both teams at the least want this game. The Kings need it.