Nets Beat Pacers, Assured of At Least No. 4 Seed

Deron Williams scored 33 points and the Brooklyn Nets secured home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs with a 117-109 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Friday night.

Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson each had 24 points for the Nets (47-32), who have won four of their last five games.

David West had 26 points and nine rebounds, and Paul George had 21 for the Pacers (49-30), who have lost three of four.

The Nets are guaranteed the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference and pulled within two games of the Pacers for No. 3.

The Pacers took their only lead of the game when Lance Stephenson hit a 3-pointer with 5 minutes, but the Pacers couldn't hold on.

Jerry Stackhouse tied the game from the free throw line and the Nets took a 104-101 lead when Johnson hit a 3-pointer.

George hit a 3-pointer of his own to tie it again and Stackhouse hit a 3 to make it 107-104 with 2:56 left.

The Pacers trailed by as much as 24 and couldn't duplicate a similar comeback they had in a win over Cleveland on Tuesday.

The Nets took a 69-50 lead by halftime, the most points they scored in a half this season.

Williams had 25 points in the half, including four 3-pointers.

The Nets took a 21-point lead late in the second quarter when Johnson hit a 3-pointer and Williams hit back-to-back 3s to make it 67-46 with 1:02 left.

The Nets shot 71.4 percent in the first quarter alone. The Pacers shot over 50 percent but couldn't keep up.

When it wasn't Williams, it was Lopez, who had 16 points in the first half on 7-of-8 shooting. Johnson had 11 points by halftime on 5-of-7 shooting.

Johnson and Lopez put together an 8-2 run for the Nets midway through the first quarter to take a 22-12 lead with 4:29 left in the first quarter.

The Nets opened a 74-52 lead early in the second half before the Pacers slowly chipped away and took the lead late.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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