Tampa (Florida, USA), May 16 (EFE) .- Canadian forward Oshae Brissett scored 31 points this Sunday, his best mark, and Lithuanian power forward Domantas Sabonis contributed a double-double of 25 points, 16 Rebounds with three steals, which helped the Indiana Pacers beat the Toronto Raptors 113-125 on the road.
The victory allowed the Pacers to secure ninth place in the Eastern Conference and will have the advantage in the first play-in game of the playoffs when they meet the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday, who finished 10th after losing 115-110 on Sunday. against the Washington Wizards, who finished eighth and will face the Boston Celtics, seventh, on the road.
Indiana, which snapped a two-game losing streak, had an 18-point lead in the third quarter, but the Raptors reacted to nine (101-110) at the end of the fourth quarter.
Then Sabonis sealed the win with a penetration layup, assisted Brissett’s triple triple and hit again with a jump shot.
Sabonis returned from a one-game absence due to a left quadriceps injury and posted his 48th double-double and 14th game with at least 15 rebounds.
He also had five assists for Indiana, which did not yet have the starters, point guard Malcolm Brogdon, center Myles Turner and forward Aaron Holiday as well as guard Edmond Sumner.
Forward Doug McDermott scored 20 points and hit four 3s, while guard Caris LaVert added 13 points and six assists.
Guard Kelan Martin scored 13 points as a reserve, while point guard TJ McConnell added a double-double of 12 points and 17 assists for Indiana, who had 51 percent shooting from the field and made 15 triples.
Brissett, who signed two 10-day contracts in April before signing for the remainder of the season, easily beat his previous career record of 23 points set April 21 against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The new Pacers player, who played 19 games with the Raptors last season, punished his former team, eliminated from the playoffs, by hitting 10 of 16 shots and 5 of 8 triples, in addition to finishing with a double-double after capturing. 10 rebounds.
Rookie point guard Malachi Flynn with 27 points, his best professional record, including five triples, finished as the leader of the Raptors, who also had the support of forward Stanley Johnson by scoring 24 points.
Guard DeAndre Bembry reached 23 points with Toronto, which missed the plyaoffs for the first time since the 2013 season.
The Raptors were forced to play in Tampa, Florida this season due to Canadian restrictions regarding the coronavirus pandemic.
Canadian power forward Khem Birch added a double-double of 18 points and 14 rebounds as the leader of the Raptors inside game that also had the contribution of another double-double (14 points and 10 balls captured under the hoops) of the Australian center Aron Baynes.
Toronto returned to play without their starters Cameroonian center Pascal Siakam (shoulder), guard Fred VanVleet (hip), point guard Kyle Lowry (rest), and English forward OG Anunoby (calf).
They also had the losses of guard Rodney Hood (hand), Japanese power forward Yuta Watanabe (ankle) and forward Paul Watson (knee), which means that he did not have his six best scorers of the season.
The Raptors played with just six players, three of them centers with just one point guard.
(c) EFE Agency