INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Marvin Bagley III scored a season-high 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, and CJ McCollum scored 18 points on Sunday as the Washington Wizards beat the Indiana Pacers 108-89 for their first road win in nearly two months.
It was Bagley's second double-double of the season. Justin Champagnie added 13 points and 14 rebounds for Washington.
The Wizards snapped a four-game skid and improved to 2-11 on the road this season, with their
only other away win coming Oct. 24 at Dallas.
And they did it with defense. The short-handed Pacers finished with their second-worst shooting percentage of the season (36.9%) and their third-worst mark from 3-point range (25.6%).
Bennedict Mathurin had 15 points to lead Indiana, which has lost two straight and four of six. Jay Huff scored 13 points and Isaiah Jackson added 11 points and 12 rebounds while Indiana's offense looked completely out of sync.
The result: Coach Rick Carlisle's six-month wait to celebrate his 1,000th victory will be put on hold yet again. He needs one win to become the 11th coach to achieve the milestone and the first since Doc Rivers in November 2021 when he was coaching the Philadelphia 76ers.
Washington closed the first half on a 13-4 run to take a 58-47 lead. The Wizards extended the margin to 66-51 early in the third quarter. Indy cut the deficit to 66-58 but watched the Wizards answer with seven straight, and the Pacers never got close again.
Wizards: Resume their three-game trip Thursday at San Antonio.
Pacers: Host the New York Knicks on Thursday in a rematch of last season's Eastern Conference finals.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
