The Indiana Pacers will be out to solidify their hold on a top-six playoff position Tuesday night when they visit the Toronto Raptors.
The Pacers (45-34) are the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference after holding on for a 117-115 home victory over the Miami Heat on Sunday.
The Raptors (25-53) will complete their home schedule seeking their second season-best three-game winning streak of the season. The first was from Feb. 22-26.
After a 15-game losing streak, the Raptors won their second in a row 130-122 over the visiting Washington Wizards on Sunday.
Toronto holds a 2-1 advantage in the season series with Indiana. The visiting team has won each game.
This will be the second time former Raptors star Pascal Siakam has played in Toronto since he was traded to the Pacers on Jan. 17.
In Sunday’s game against the Heat, the Pacers led by as many as 22 points but faded in the second half.
Miami cut the margin to one point in the fourth quarter. Free throws by Myles Turner and Aaron Nesmith helped the Pacers hold on.
“The fourth quarter was a situation where they were going to keep coming,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “We knew it. It was a matter of bend not break, and hang in there. (Tyler) Herro hit a couple of hellacious shots. But guys at this time of year and these moments do those kinds of things. Our guys held up. It’s a huge win for us.”
T.J. McConnell scored 22 points off the Indiana bench.
“Tonight was definitely a playoff-type game, a playoff-type atmosphere,” McConnell said. “It was good for us to be on the right side of one of those. … The maturity that we showed to take it one possession at a time and get the stops that we needed. The free throws down the stretch were huge, too.”
Turner had 22 points and 13 rebounds.
Sunday was the first time since Scottie Barnes (hand) was injured on March 1 that the Raptors had Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Gary Trent Jr., Kelly Olynyk and Bruce Brown available for the same game — and it showed.
“It was an adjustment,” said Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic. “From not having anybody to getting more guys, and at the same time, trying to find a rhythm.”
Quickley led the Raptors with 31 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds. Barrett added 22 points, Olynyk scored 21 and Trent had 20.
Toronto led by as many as 29 points in a first quarter that ended 42-17.
“It was very positive, that whole first quarter,” Rajakovic said. “We were making shots and running in transition. I thought our defense really set up our offense, with our aggressiveness and active hands, we had 15 deflections.”
Tuesday marks the home finale for the Raptors.
“We lost the 15 straight, but I still felt like we were doing the right things even though we weren’t getting the results,” Quickley said. “And sometimes that’s what happens in sports or in life was (you) don’t get results but you’re going to keep putting in the work to get better. So that’s what we’ve been doing.”
–Field Level Media