INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers made their first 20 shots of the third quarter, missing out on a perfect period when Josh McRoberts was off on a 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds left, and the Indiana Pacers beat the Denver Nuggets 144-113 on Tuesday night.
Mike Dunleavy scored 24 of his 31 points in the Pacers' 54-point period. Indiana, which shot 64 percent overall, led 113-76 at the end of the third quarter.
Darren Collison scored 29 points, Tyler Hansbrough had 20 points and nine rebounds, and Danny Granger added 19 points for the Pacers (3-3). Indiana set league season highs for points, field goals made and field-goal percentage.
Ty Lawson led Denver with 19 points and Arron Afflalo added 17. Carmelo Anthony scored 13 points on 5-for-15 shooting for the Nuggets (4-4).
Indiana shot 52 percent from the field in the first half to take a 59-49 lead at the break, but that was just the beginning.
Dunleavy made all five of his 3-point attempts in the quarter, including one that gave Indiana its 100th point with 2:49 left. The Pacers outscored Denver 54-27 in the period to take a 113-76 lead.
Indiana had 17 assists and made 8-of-9 3-pointers in the 12-minute span.
Pacers coach Jim O'Brien had criticized Dunleavy for missing open shots, but the guard made 9-of-13 field goals, including 6-of-10 3-pointers. Granger had shot 8-for-31 from the field past two games, but bounced back and shot 8 for 10.
The Pacers made 31-of-39 shots in the second half, and their largest lead was 39 points.
Notes
Granger and Indiana Fever forward Tamika Catchings were honored before the game for winning gold medals at the World Championships. … Denver F Al Harrington, who played his first six seasons with the Pacers, scored nine points. … Pacers F-C Jeff Foster sat out with a sprained right ankle. … Pacers G Brandon Rush scored 16 points in his first game since being suspended for the first five games of the season for violating the league's drug agreement.