Mathurin, Hield lead Pacers past Raptors for 4th straight

The Indiana Pacers won their fourth game in a row, 122-114 over the Toronto Raptors on Monday night, led by 21 points from Bennedict Mathurin and 19 from Buddy Hield.

Both Tyrese Haliburton and Myles Turner scored in double figures for the Pacers, with Haliburton scoring 16 points and Turner adding 10.

For Toronto, Gary Trent Jr. poured in 32 points, while Pascal Siakam added 26. To Scottie Barnes’s 22 points, he contributed 23 of his own.

The Indiana bench outscored the Toronto bench, 54-7. Mathurin, T.J. McConnell, and Jalen Smith made up the second unit (11 points and 11 rebounds).

The Raptors’ head coach, Rick Carlisle, was quoted as saying that the Pacers’ starting five would have a hard time competing with Toronto’s. Every halftime, they came out strong. The addition of our second unit provided us with much-needed firepower, aggressiveness, and selflessness on the field. The game would have ended differently if not for them.

Carlisle singled out McConnell for his appreciation after he made a career-high seven free throws in a row.

‘T.J. McConnell is a once-in-a-decade player,’ Carlisle remarked. You never see people like that who have so much vitality and determination that they can inspire a whole arena with one game-changing loose ball play. His time allotment has been reduced somewhat. “But he makes every second count.”