Raptors rally past Pacers in fourth 106-99
Toronto guard DeMar DeRozan scored 24 points and center Jonas Valanciunas added 16 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Raptors to a 106-99 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis on Thursday night.
The Raptors, who lead the Eastern Conference with a 51-17 record, have won 10 games in a row and eight consecutive road games. Toronto rallied from a two-point deficit after three quarters.
Toronto held a 58-35 rebounding advantage.
Indiana center Myles Turner left the game with a sprained left ankle in the second quarter but was able to return early in the third quarter. Turner had to leave again with 4:14 left in the game, finishing with just two points in 19 minutes The Pacers were already playing without backup center Domantas Sabonis, who suffered a left ankle sprain in Tuesday's victory at Philadelphia.
Third-string center Al Jefferson had 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Pacers. Darren Collison was high for Indiana with 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Victor Oladipo added 18 points.
Collison hit a 3-pointer with 25.8 seconds left to cut Toronto's lead to 102-99, but the Raptors then closed out the Pacers.
Toronto grabbed its first lead since the first quarter at 89-88 with 7:02 left in the fourth quarter. Miles' 3-pointer pushed the lead to 92-88.
Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka each had 13. Ibaka added 11 rebounds. Former Pacer C.J. Miles scored 10 points, all in the fourth quarter, for Toronto before leaving with an apparent ankle injury.
Indiana shot 46 percent to lead 57-49 at halftime. Collison nailed a 17-foot jumper just before time expired. The Pacers bench scored 31 in the first half. Jefferson scored 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting in the first half.
The Raptors tied the game at 75-all on a basket by DeRozan with 47.9 seconds left in the third quarter. Indiana was able to regain the lead at 79-77 after three quarters.
The Pacers' largest first-half lead was 50-40. Toronto closed the deficit to four points twice after that before rebuilding it to eight points by halftime.
The Pacers scored the final nine points of the first quarter to take a 27-25 lead. The Raptors had led by as many as seven points at 25-18..
--Field Level Media
