The Toronto Raptors were smacked around against the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night, but one weekend featuring consecutive victories over two of the top three teams in the East has put that all behind them. The Raptors got a season-high 23 points from Norman Powell to pull away from the Indiana Pacers at home, 121-105, on Sunday night. The win puts an end to the Pacers' six-game winning streak, and comes one night after the Raptors took care of business against the Milwaukee Bucks on the road. That win put them back atop the Eastern Conference, as they now hold a one-game lead on the Bucks, and a 2.5-game lead on the third-seeded Pacers.
Serge Ibaka was coming off a 25-point effort in Milwaukee and scored 18 points against Indiana, while Kyle Lowry returned with 12 points and eight assists in limited playing time. Lowry had missed the previous six games due to a sore lower back. He played 32 minutes, but was monitored closely throughout, and shot 4-for-10, including 2-for-6 from three-point range. Pascal Siakam was coming off a career-high 30-point night on Saturday, and followed that with a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.
It was a hot start both ways offensively, but the Raptors were the only ones to keep it up throughout the night, despite playing the second game of a back-to-back, while the Pacers were able to rest on Saturday. Danny Green had 15 points on a season-high tying five three-pointers and Fred VanVleet contributed 12 points in the Raptors' fifth straight win at Scotiabank Arena. The Raptors finished shooting 17-for-33 from beyond the arc, which is just one shy of their season high in makes. And they did all of this without their star, Kawhi Leonard, who was sitting out for rest. He has missed at least one game of all back-to-backs, as he is coming off just a nine-game season with the Spurs a year ago.
The Pacers' struggles continued north of the border, as they have dropped five in a row and 14 of their past 16 against the Raptors on the road. Bojan Bogdanvic led Indiana with 21 points, while Domantas Sabonis had 16 points and 11 rebounds in the loss. It was a fairly efficient night offensively for the road team, who got 16 points from Victor Oladipo, 14 from Thaddeus Young, and 11 from Darren Collison. The loss for them is their first since falling in Toronto against this same Raptors team on December 19th.
Indiana will have a good chance to get back to their winning ways when they visit the last-place Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night. Meanwhile, the first-place Raptors will stay home to host the Atlanta Hawks that same night.
Serge Ibaka was coming off a 25-point effort in Milwaukee and scored 18 points against Indiana, while Kyle Lowry returned with 12 points and eight assists in limited playing time. Lowry had missed the previous six games due to a sore lower back. He played 32 minutes, but was monitored closely throughout, and shot 4-for-10, including 2-for-6 from three-point range. Pascal Siakam was coming off a career-high 30-point night on Saturday, and followed that with a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.
It was a hot start both ways offensively, but the Raptors were the only ones to keep it up throughout the night, despite playing the second game of a back-to-back, while the Pacers were able to rest on Saturday. Danny Green had 15 points on a season-high tying five three-pointers and Fred VanVleet contributed 12 points in the Raptors' fifth straight win at Scotiabank Arena. The Raptors finished shooting 17-for-33 from beyond the arc, which is just one shy of their season high in makes. And they did all of this without their star, Kawhi Leonard, who was sitting out for rest. He has missed at least one game of all back-to-backs, as he is coming off just a nine-game season with the Spurs a year ago.
The Pacers' struggles continued north of the border, as they have dropped five in a row and 14 of their past 16 against the Raptors on the road. Bojan Bogdanvic led Indiana with 21 points, while Domantas Sabonis had 16 points and 11 rebounds in the loss. It was a fairly efficient night offensively for the road team, who got 16 points from Victor Oladipo, 14 from Thaddeus Young, and 11 from Darren Collison. The loss for them is their first since falling in Toronto against this same Raptors team on December 19th.
Indiana will have a good chance to get back to their winning ways when they visit the last-place Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night. Meanwhile, the first-place Raptors will stay home to host the Atlanta Hawks that same night.
