(Toronto) Playing his first game in Toronto, Ontarian Andrew Nembhard shined with 25 points and the Indiana Pacers won 118-114 against the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday.
Nembhard had three 3-point shots, including one that gave the visitors a 114-107 cushion, with 33 seconds on the clock. It was more or less the coup de grace.
Hailing from the northern suburbs of Toronto, Nembhard also had 10 assists.
Myles Turner added 16 points – one more than Montreal’s Bennedict Mathurin, who was also playing his first game at home for the Raptors.
The 20-year-old from Montreal North recently missed four games with an ankle injury. He returned to action on Monday in Charlotte.
Mathurin was 3 in 3 for long shots. The Pacers have had an 11-for-21 success rate in this regard.
Fifteen seconds after returning to the game, Mathurin scored from long range to break the 95-95 tie, with 6:29 remaining in the final quarter. The Pacers remained in control thereafter.
Pascal Siakam had 31 points for the Raptors, who had won their last seven games at home. Fred VanVleet scored 28 points, five more than Jakob Poeltl.
VanVleet had 11 assists and Siakam had 10 rebounds.
“Overall the energy was low and so was the level of competition. The execution was not there, analyzed VanVleet. We were completely outplayed, if you look at the game or the stats, in every aspect. »
Gary Trent missed the game with a sore right elbow.
Scottie Barnes was also on the sidelines (left wrist), as was Precious Achiuwa (back of right thigh).
“Clearly we were missing those players, but that’s no excuse. We could have won that game, said Chris Boucher, who had 11 points and six rebounds. There were a few games that cost us dearly. There were a few fouls that could have gone the other way and that didn’t help us. »
Starting as a starter, Will Barton was 0-for-5 on three-pointers.
From beyond the perimeter, his team only hit seven out of 34 times (20.6%).
Toronto (35-38) sits ninth in the East, half a game ahead of the Chicago Bulls.
“It was one of those games,” VanVleet said. You have to turn the page, have a short term memory and focus on the parts ahead. »
The Raptors will play their next game Friday night at home against the Detroit Pistons. The Bulls will then play in Portland.
Indiana was playing without their best pointer Tyrese Haliburton, who was injured in the right ankle. Chris Duarte was also absent, injured in the left ankle.
