RJ Barrett scored a career-high 39 points, Jakob Poeltl added 30 points and 15 rebounds, and the Toronto Raptors beat the Indiana Pacers 130-119 on Monday.
Barrett also grabbed nine rebounds and scored 15 points in the fourth quarter. Gradey Dick chipped in with 15 points for the Raptors, who ended a seven-game losing streak. Davion Mitchell and Ochai Agbaji each scored 11 points.
For the Pacers, former Raptor Pascal Siakam posted 25 points and 10 rebounds. Bennedict Mathurin added 28 points, Obi Toppin had 19, Tyrese Haliburton scored 16 points and grabbed five steals, and T.J. McConnell contributed 10 points.
Jarace Walker (six points) and rookie Enrique Freeman (three points) both started their first NBA game.
Indiana, which has now lost three of its last four games, fell behind 34-27 after the first quarter. Siakam helped the Pacers briefly take the lead in the second quarter, but Toronto quickly responded with a 9-0 run.
The Raptors extended their lead to 18 points late in the half, and despite an 8-2 run by Indiana to close the period, Toronto led 69-57 at halftime.
The Raptors shot 57.4 percent from the field in the first half, while the Pacers shot 44.2 percent. In the third quarter, Toronto extended their lead, and Mitchell’s 3-pointer pushed it to 20 points with 6:20 left. After a 10-2 run by Indiana, the Raptors finished the quarter ahead 96-82.
Toppin scored five quick points in the fourth quarter to reduce the lead to 11, and Mathurin’s layup cut it to seven. However, a layup by Barrett kept Toronto ahead by 12 points with 5:32 remaining. Indiana never got closer than nine points after that.
The Raptors shot 58.5 percent from the field compared to the Pacers’ 44.4 percent. From 3-point range, Toronto shot 48.3 percent (14 of 29), while Indiana hit 37.5 percent (15 of 40).
