Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez (11) dribbles in on Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert (55) in the second half of their game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Saturday. The Brooklyn Nets beat the Indiana Pacers 123-111. Picture: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

DPA/Los Angeles


Brook Lopez scored 26 points and Joe Johnson led a fourth-quarter surge Saturday night as the visiting Brooklyn Nets continued their push for the playoffs with a 123-111 victory over the slumping Indiana Pacers.
Croatian rookie Bojan Bogdanovic scored 21 points on 8-of-8 shooting for the Nets (29-39), who have won four of their last five contests to pull within one game of Boston for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
One week ago, the Nets were riding a five-game losing streak that had dropped them to 11th in the East, three games out of the playoffs and fading quickly. But Brooklyn won at Philadelphia to stop the slide and has climbed back into the race.
Meanwhile, the Pacers (30-39) have dropped five straight games to fall to ninth in the East, a half-game behind Boston.
Johnson made a pair of baskets and - after a layup by Bogdanovic - converted a three-point play for a 106-98 lead with 4:33 to go. Bogdanovic drained a three-pointer and Lopez sank a jumper for a 111-101 advantage.
Johnson scored 14 points and Jarrett Jack added 13 for the Nets, who had seven players in double figures. George Hill had 18 points and nine assists and Solomon Hill scored 17 points for the Pacers.
Golden State Warriors 106, Utah Jazz 91: Stephen Curry scored 24 points and “Brazilian Blur” Leandro Barbosa added 19 for the league-leading Warriors, who have won five in a row. Derrick Favors totaled 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Jazz, who had won seven of eight.
In other games, the hosts Memphis Grizzlies handled the Portland Trail Blazers, 97-86; the visiting Phoenix Suns defeated the Houston Rockets, 117-102; and the host Detroit Pistons rallied past the Chicago Bulls, 107-91.
Meanwhile, the NBA doled out punishment to two players Saturday, suspending Boston Celtics rookie guard Marcus Smart and fining Dallas Mavericks forward Amar’e Stoudemire for separate incidents.
Both penalties were announced by NBA president of basketball operations Rod Thorn. Smart was suspended one game without pay and Stoudemire was fined $15,000.
Smart was suspended for punching San Antonio Spurs forward Matt Bonner in the groin in the fourth quarter of Boston’s 101-89 road loss. As Bonner prepared to set a pick on Smart, the rookie swung his arm up between Bonner’s legs.
The players began shouting at each other and had to be separated. Bonner asked the referees to look at the play on replay, and Smart was ejected for a flagrant-2 foul after the review. After the game, Celtics coach Brad Stevens said Smart’s actions were “unacceptable.”
It was the second flagrant-2 foul in less than two weeks for Smart, who will sit out Sunday’s home game against Detroit and lose approximately $30,000 for his suspension. In a loss at Orlando on March 8, he elbowed Magic guard Elfrid Payton in the head on a drive to the basket and was ejected.
Stoudemire was fined for verbally abusing referee Scott Foster and failing to leave the court in a timely fashion after he was ejected in the third quarter of Friday’s 112-101 home loss to Memphis.
Stoudemire was called for an offensive foul, argued the call and received two quick technical fouls from Foster, earning an ejection. He yelled in Foster’s face and continued to shout at the referee as he was pulled away by teammates.