Raptors fall to Pacers despite Trent Jr., Siakam combining for 58 points

Bennedict Mathurin scored 21 points and Buddy Hield added 19 to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 122-114 victory over the Toronto Raptors for their fourth consecutive victory Monday night.

Gary Trent Jr. scored 32 points and Pascal Siakam had 26 for Toronto. Scottie Barnes added 23.

Indiana's bench outscored Toronto's reserves 54-7. The second unit included Mathurin, T.J. McConnell (15 points) and Jalen Smith (11 points and 11 rebounds).

"Their starters are a tough matchup for anyone in this league," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said of the Raptors. "They were tough at the start of each half. Our second unit came in and gave us what we needed — force, energy, attacking, unselfish play. They were the difference in the game as a whole."

WATCH l Reserves leave Raptors hanging in road loss to Pacers:

Pacers defeat Raptors behind lopsided bench performance

2 years ago

Duration 0:57

Indiana's reserves outscored Toronto 54-7 in a 122-114 Pacers victory, their fourth in a row.

Carlisle had special praise for McConnell, who made a career-high seven free throws in seven attempts.

"T.J. McConnell is a once-in-a-decade player," Carlisle said. "You don't find those guys like that who have boundless energy and indomitable spirit that can lift the entire building with one defining loose ball play. His minutes have been a little less. But he gets everything he can out of the minutes."

McConnell said defence was the difference.

Mathurin went 6 of 9 from the field and 7 of 10 on free throws.

"It was amazing the difficulty of some of those shots," Carlisle said.

The Pacers, who shot 45% from the field, had a 50-36 edge in rebounds.

"When you play Toronto, it's always a possession game," Carlisle said. "They keep coming and coming. You have to outlast them."

With the score tied at 101 in the fourth quarter, Haliburton sank a 3-pointer to put the Pacers ahead for good.

Toronto used a 20-2 run in the third period to take an 83-75 lead. With the Raptors leading 83-77 with 3:25 left in the quarter, O.G. Anunoby was called for a technical foul after pushing Mathurin.

Mathurin missed the technical free throw, but he scored six points, including a step-back 3-pointer, the rest of the quarter to help the Pacers grab a 91-90 lead after three.

"I'm trying to go with the flow," Mathurin said. "I had a couple opportunities and went to the rim and got fouled a lot. I was trying to get myself going through my defence."

Trailing 47-42 with 7:26 left in the first half, the Pacers outscored the Raptors 24-10 the remainder of the half to take a 66-57 halftime lead.

Raptors' Precious Achiuwa played his first game since injuring his right ankle Nov. 9 against Miami. Achiuwa scored three points in 12 minutes.

Toronto hosts the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday.

WATCH | Trent Jr. helps Raptors snap 5-game home losing streak:

Raptors defeat Suns as Trent Jr. leads the way

2 years ago

Duration 1:07

Toronto beats Phoenix 113-104. Gary Trent Jr. ties his season-high in points with 35 and Christian Koloko hits his first career 3-pointer to seal the game for the Raptors.