Brandon Ingram scored 26 points, grabbed eight rebounds and drilled a jumper with 0.6 seconds to go to give the Raptors a 97-95 win over the Pacers in an NBA Cup East Group a game Wednesday night in Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
The Pacers fell to 2-16 overall, 0-3 in NBA Cup group play. The Raptors have won nine straight and improved to 14-5 overall, 4-0 in group play having already won the East Group A and a spot in the quarterfinals.
Raptors forward Scottie Barnes posted 24 points and 10 rebounds. Guard Immanuel Quickley posted 15 points and six assists and guard Ja’Kobe Walter had 13 points. Point guard T.J. McConnell posted 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists to lead the Pacers. Bennedict Mathurin scored 15 points and forward Jarace Walker had 13 points and nine rebounds.
Here are three observations.
Pacers blow lead, claw back from 13-point deficit, fall short
In the span of one game, the Pacers experienced an excellent start, a humiliating collapse, a tough-minded comeback and then a gut-wrenching finish, but in the end it just led to a similar result as they took their 16th loss in their first 18 games.
After giving up 78 points in the paint and 33 fast-break points in their Nov. 15 loss to the Raptors at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the Pacers showed determination to keep the Raptors from running and getting easy buckets in the lane and they mostly accomplished that goal, especially early. Toronto scored just 21 first-quarter points on 7 of 22 shooting and the Pacers led 49-38 with 3:53 to play in the second quarter.
But then the bottom fell out. The Pacers didn’t score the rest of the period and they went through a stretch of more than eight minutes without a field goal from a Bennedict Mathurin 3-pointer with 4:22 to go in the second quarter to an Isaiah Jackson dunk with 8:11 to go in the third quarter. The Raptors scored the last 12 points of the second quarter to take a 50-49 lead at the break, then scored the first 10 points of the second half to go up 60-49. The Pacers finally answered, but the Raptors 22-0 run became a 27-3 stretch and the Raptors went up as much as 65-52 with 7:55 to go.
But, to use their terminology, the Pacers didn’t let go of the rope and outscored the Raptors 18-11 the rest of the third period and actually took a three-point lead at one point in the fourth. They had the ball with the game tied at 95 with 35 seconds left and a chance to take the lead. They outscored the Raptors 43-32 after falling behind 13 and held the Raptors to 8 of 21 shooting in the fourth quarter and 18 of 44 shooting including 3 of 12 from 3 in the second half overall. The Raptors shot 35 of 90 (38.9%) from the floor for the game including 5 of 26 from 3-point range, scoring 46 points in the paint and just nine on fast breaks.
“We just decided to bear down and make it harder on them after they made that run, whatever it is,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said in his post-game press conference as broadcast on FanDuel Sports Network Indiana and posted on the Pacers’ YouTube channel. “Didn’t like, obviously, what we saw during their big run. Lot of droughts, lot of defensive mistakes, but you gotta be really gritty to hang in the way we did and give ourselves a chance.”
However, Pacers All-Star forward Pascal Siakam had his shot blocked by Raptors center Jakob Poeltl when Siakam tried to drive with 15 seconds to go. Then Ingram called for the ball and got isolated on to Siakam, drove on to him and then hit a jumper in his face, leaving just 0.6 seconds on the clock. The Pacers called a timeout to advance the ball and Bennedict Mathurin had a look for 3 but not much time to get organized and missed.
T.J. McConnell helps jumpstart Pacers off bench
T.J. McConnell checked in with 6:47 to go in the third quarter right after the Raptors had gone up 13, completing that 27-3 run. On the Pacers’ first offensive possession after he checked in he knocked down a 15-foot pull-up jumper that seemed to re-set the floor underneath the Pacers’ feet.
From that point forward, the Pacers outscored the Raptors 18-11 the rest of the period to cut the deficit to six heading into the fourth quarter and giving themselves a chance in the fourth. McConnell scored six points and posted two assists in that stretch, bringing pace into the game, finding runners on the break and also bringing pressure on the basketball. He continues to find his wind and his opportunities to get to his spots, and he kept going in the fourth quarter to score six more points on 3 of 5 shooting.
McConnell finished with 16 points on 8 of 17 shooting in 24 minutes and 15 seconds, the most he’s played this season. In the second half alone he scored 12 points on 6 of 11 shooting with four assists and was +14 in just over 16 minutes on the floor.
“He was great,” Carlisle said. “His spirit and energy was a big ignitor for us.”
Bennedict Mathurin’s shooting gives Pacers a chance
After an extremely efficient start to his season, Bennedict Mathurin hit a lull in Monday’s game and Wednesday’s first half, shooting 3 of 13 from the floor in the Pacers’ loss to the Pistons and 2 of 8 in the first half against the Raptors.
But Mathurin isn’t the type to stop shooting when he misses and he found his rhythm at some big moments in the second half. He scored 10 second-half points with three key 3-pointers with two 3s in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter that both brought the Pacers back within a point and then a third that gave the Pacers the lead with 8:21 to go. He wasn’t as sharp after that, but his return created some gravity that helped the Pacers get back in the game.
Get IndyStar’s Pacers coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Pacers Update newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Brandon Ingram kills Pacers’ furious come back as Indiana falls to 2-16
Reporting by Dustin Dopirak, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
