Sabonis powers balanced Pacers past short-handed Raptors

Nov 27, 2021, 04:06 am

INDIANAPOLIS -- — Domantas Sabonis had 23 points and 18 rebounds, and the Indiana Pacers beat the short-handed Toronto Raptors 114-97 on Friday night.

Caris LeVert scored 19 points for the Pacers, who had seven double-digit scorers. Myles Turner had 17 points and 10 rebounds, Kelan Martin scored 15 points and Chris Duarte had 12.

“We stayed the course and they kind of wore down,” LeVert said. “We're together right now, getting better each game."

Malcolm Brogdon and Torrey Craig each scored 11 for the Pacers, who led by nine at halftime and were never seriously threatened in the second half.

“I thought Martin and Craig were a great tag team tonight,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said of his top bench scorers. “Those guys are really important to us.”

Brogdon also had 12 assists as the Pacers had a 31-17 edge in that statistic.

“Simply put, Malcolm Brogdon is a guy who does a little bit of everything for us,” Carlisle said.

Fred VanVleet led the Raptors with 26 points, including four 3-pointers. Scottie Barnes and Pascal Siakam each had 17.

“They did a good job of moving the ball and we didn't get to shooters,” Siakam said. “We were a step slow.”

The Raptors were without two injured starters for a second consecutive game.

“We've played a little up and down, like a young team might,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “We've had a lot of bodies in and out. We've got to solve that.”

Martin scored 11 points in the second quarter, including a 3-pointer to give the Pacers their largest first-half lead at 64-53 with 1:20 remaining. Indiana led 66-57 at halftime.

TIP-INS

Raptors: G OG Anunoby missed his fifth consecutive game with a hip pointer, but is close to returning. “Hoping it's any day now,” Nurse said. ... C Khem Birch (knee) missed his second consecutive game and fifth with a knee injury. ... Lost four in this six-game road trip.

Pacers: Improved to 31-16 at home against Raptors. ... Second of a 10-game stretch with nine at home, where they are 6-3. ... Lakers star LeBron James was fined $15,000 for an obscene gesture while celebrating a late 3-pointer in overtime against the Pacers on Wednesday.

UP NEXT

Raptors: Host Boston Celtics on Sunday.

Pacers: Host Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday.