By Zharita Sese
EBC Southern Ontario Bureau
TORONTO, CANADA (Eagle News) — Raptors fans were treated with a matinee game Sunday afternoon when their team took on the Indiana Pacers. With the 127-81 win against the Pacers, Toronto sets a new franchise record for largest margin of victory of 46 points.
Pascal Siakam once again led his team to victory as he finished the night with 21 points and shot 8-for-12 from the field. On the other end of the court, Serge Ibaka led the charge collecting 15 of the team’s 57 total rebounds for the night. With the ongoing shortage in their line-up, Toronto’s “next man up” mentality helped them defeat the Pacers and their off-season pick up of Matt Thomas gave them the extra boost to cap off a dominating win. Thomas scored 17 points in just 15 minutes, going 5-for-7 from beyond the arc.
Unfortunately for the the Pacers, they couldn’t get their offense going as the team shot 33% from the field. They also suffered against the Raptors’ bigs as they were out rebounded 39 to 57. All-Star Domantas Sabonis was the team’s top performer, finishing the night with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
When asked about his team’s performance Sunday, Nate McMillan said it was their “wake-up call.”
“That’s a wake up call. [The Toronto Raptors] jumped on us,” McMillan said. “They came with intensity. They played with a sense of urgency. That team is connected out there. This is NBA basketball and we got to get to that level.”
The loss was met with more bad news as Pacers’ guard Jeremy Lamb left half way through the game due to injury. The injury occurred as Lamb was landing from a contested basket by Toronto’s Terence Davis. It was later reported that Lamb suffered a torn ACL and torn meniscus in his left knee along with a lateral femoral condylar fracture, taking him out of commission for the rest of the season.
Up next, the Raptors have the opportunity to set yet another franchise record for most consecutive wins at home. However, such a record won’t be an easy grab given their next game is against the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks come into Toronto after a hard fought battle with the Washington Wizards where they needed overtime to declare a winner.
The game against the Bucks will be a rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference finals. There is no doubt that the rest of the league will be watching and taking note of who may come out on top of the East.
(Eagle News Service)