NBA ROUNDUP \ Saturday’s other games

November 2, 2008 at 12:00a.m.

Pacers 95, Celtics 79

INDIANAPOLIS — Danny Granger scored 20 points, and the Indiana Pacers beat the defending champion Boston Celtics. T.J. Ford, the key acquisition in the trade that sent Jermaine O’Neal to Toronto, had 19 points and four assists for Indiana. Jarrett Jack, picked up in a trade with Portland, added 11 points and seven rebounds. Kevin Garnett led Boston with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Paul Pierce scored 15 points, but shot 3-for-15 from the field. Ray Allen finished with 10 points on 4-for-10 shooting. The Celtics (2-1) started last season 12-0, but won’t duplicate that early success because of poor fundamentals. The Celtics had 24 turnovers and shot 21-for-35 from the free-throw line against Indiana (1-1).

Bobcats 100, Heat 87

CHARLOTTE, N.C — Gerald Wallace scored 34 points and Larry Brown earned his first victory in his ninth NBA head coaching job. After a winless preseason and an ugly loss at Cleveland to open the regular season, Wallace, Jason Richardson and Emeka Okafor powered the Bobcats to a sharp performance that gave the well-traveled Brown his 1,011th career win. Richardson added 23 points and Okafor had 18 points and 13 rebounds for Charlotte, which shot 54 percent, controlled the boards and took advantage of Dwyane Wade’s off night to spoil Heat rookie coach Erik Spoelstra’s 38th birthday. Rookie Michael Beasley capped his opening week with 25 points for Miami. Wade, hampered by foul trouble, added 19 points on 5-of-15 shooting.

Hawks 95, 76ers 88

ATLANTA — Joe Johnson scored 35 points, including a long 3-pointer that clinched it with 11 seconds remaining, and the Hawks battled back from a 23-point deficit to get the win. The Hawks improved to 2-0 in their home opener, the team’s best start in a decade. Atlanta took its first lead of the night on Johnson’s dunk with 1:53 remaining. Then, with the Hawks clinging to a 90-88 lead, Johnson got the ball at the top of the key with everyone in the building expecting him to shoot. He bounced off Thaddeus Young and made a 32-footer before Andre Miller could work around a pick. Andre Iguodala’s jumper with 7 1/2 minutes remaining in the second period boosted Philadelphia to a 44-21 lead. Young led the 76ers with 22 points.

Magic 121, Kings 103

ORLANDO, Fla. — Dwight Howard had 29 points and 14 rebounds, and the Magic earned their first victory of the season. Howard was one of four starters to score 20 or more points as Orlando’s offense finally came alive in the third game of the season. Rashard Lewis had 26 points, Hedo Turkoglu scored 21 and Mickael Pietrus added 20.

Kevin Martin broke out of a shooting slump with 31 points for Sacramento. Spencer Hawes added 14 points, and John Salmons and Jason Thompson had 12 apiece as the Kings dropped their third straight game.

Associated Press