Pacers stick Hornets with 7th straight loss

Pascal Siakam racked up 25 points and Aaron Nesmith scored 22 as the visiting Indiana Pacers beat the cold-shooting Charlotte Hornets 115-99 on Sunday night.

The Pacers snapped a three-game losing streak with boosts from Tyrese Haliburton (17 points), Myles Turner (16), Bennedict Mathurin (14) and Jalen Smith (10).

Hornets rookie Brandon Miller poured in a career-high 35 points, 17 in the third quarter. He reached 30 points for the first time with more than nine minutes to play.

P.J. Washington pumped in 22 points, Miles Bridges had 19 and Nick Richards finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds for Charlotte, which lost its seventh straight game.

Charlotte shot 39.8 percent from the field and went 8-for-29 from 3-point range. Miller made five treys, and he was 10-for-25 overall from the field and went 10-for-12 on free throws.

Siakam, who put up big numbers against the Hornets in recent seasons while playing for the Toronto Raptors, made 11 of 20 shots from the field. He was close to a triple-double with nine assists and eight rebounds.

Charlotte closed within 63-59 a few minutes into the second half, only to have the Pacers go on a 15-2 run that took barely more than two minutes.

The Hornets flirted with a couple of good stretches for a comeback in the fourth quarter. But seven straight points for Indiana, including Mathurin's free throw courtesy of a technical foul on Bridges, helped seal the outcome.

The Hornets had a horrid start, shooting 5-for-25 from the field in the first quarter while missing all nine of their 3-point attempts. Indiana led 26-13 going to the second quarter. Through 10 minutes of the game, the Hornets had nine points -- the same total as Siakam.

Charlotte's injury-riddled lineup was without Cody Martin (knee) and Frank Ntilikina (hip). Ish Smith made the start at point guard.