INDIANAPOLIS - Rick Carlisle has this 50-win thing down pat.
Ron Artest scored 21 to lead the Pacers to an 80-71 win over the Trail Blazers on Wednesday night, giving Carlisle his third straight 50-win season in his third season as a coach.
Reggie Miller added 18 points for the Pacers, who overcame a big disparity at the free-throw line to improve the NBA's best record to 50-17.
Carlisle won exactly 50 games in his first two seasons coaching the Pistons before being replaced by Larry Brown last summer. He was hired by Pacers president Larry Bird in September and appears headed for much more than 50 this season.
The Pacers closed with a 10-0 run to put away a Portland team that had made a habit of beating the league's best teams in recent weeks.
Artest hit a 3-pointer, Jermaine O'Neal added a jumper and Reggie Miller made another 3 to give Indiana a 78-71 lead with 1:43 left.
WIZARDS 114, KINGS 108: Kwame Brown had career highs of 30 points and 19 rebounds and played all 48 minutes as host Washington snapped a seven-game losing streak. Brown shot 12-for-16 from the field and 6-for-7 from the line, including two free throws with 23.6 seconds left to lock up the win. With a victory, the Kings would have secured their sixth consecutive playoff berth and reached the 50-win plateau for the fourth straight season.
HAWKS 111, MAVERICKS 110: Stephen Jackson scored 36, including 31 in the first half, and the Hawks led by as many as 26 before holding on to snap the Mavericks' nine-game home win streak. Atlanta opened a big lead behind Jackson's 12-for-16 shooting before Dallas used a 34-21 fourth quarter to nearly pull off the biggest comeback in franchise history. But Steve Nash failed to hit the rim on a fading left-handed runner at the buzzer, giving the Hawks their eighth road win.
RAPTORS 85, JAZZ 81: Vince Carter scored 14 of his 24 in the fourth quarter as the host Raptors knocked the Jazz back to .500. Jalen Rose and Donyell Marshall each added 17 points for the Raptors, who began the day in 10th place in the East. ... Raptors guard Alvin Williams was activated before the game, and Roger Mason was placed on the injured list with a sprained left ankle. Williams had surgery to relieve inflammation on his right knee Feb. 27 and missed 11 games.
CELTICS 104, NUGGETS 100: Paul Pierce had 28 points and 11 rebounds, and Mark Blount and Chucky Atkins also had double doubles as the host Celtics improved to 12-1 at home on St. Patrick's Day. Wearing green road uniforms, green socks and green headbands to celebrate the holiday, Blount had 17 points with 15 rebounds, and Atkins had 21 points and 10 assists.
HORNETS 104, 76ERS 80: Rookie David West hit all seven of his shots for a career-high 15 points and fueled a momentum-changing third-quarter surge in the host Hornets' win.
WARRIORS 110, MAGIC 85: Troy Murphy came off the bench for 22 points and 10 rebounds as the host Warriors won back-to-back games for the first time in more than a month. Tracy McGrady had 18 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds for the Magic.
Mavs' Cuban fined
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was fined $10,000 by the league for inappropriate public comments after a loss to the Spurs on March 5.
In the game, Mavericks forward Michael Finley was ejected for elbowing Bruce Bowen. But replays showed both throwing elbows, and Bowen said after the game they bumped each other.
The Spurs won 113-100, and Cuban said in published reports that he asked one of his players to retaliate against Bowen.
"I told one of our guys when you get up close, slap the ball right into his face and I'll pay the fine," Cuban said.
BUCKS: Drug enforcement officers searched the Milwaukee home of point guard T.J. Ford, but the rookie was not the target of the investigation. Ford's lawyer, Stephen Glynn, said officers were searching for marijuana, but it is not clear what evidence was collected. No arrests were reported.
OLYMPICS: Shaquille O'Neal and Kevin Garnett were invited to play for the U.S. team. The picks were made Tuesday during a meeting of the USA Basketball senior national team selection committee, the Associated Press reported.
