The Pacers narrowly beat the Raptors and moved up to the top 6 Haliburton 21 12, and Sika scored 23 points in the first game against the old master!
On February 15, Beijing time, the NBA played an official game against the Raptors, and since Siakam was traded back by Toronto, his first game was against his old club. Both teams scored more than 100 points in the first three quarters, and the two teams were still in a stalemate in the third quarter, Siakam scored a couple of more three-pointers at the end of the game, and in this game, they defeated Orlando and Miami 127-125 to become sixth in the Eastern Conference, while the Raptors lost three games. Haliburton had 21 and 12 rebounds, while Siakam had 23, leading a team of seven to double-digit scoring. Barnes had 29 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, and Bamot had 23 points to lead the Raptors to double figures.
It was their first game of the year, and they lost 131-132 to the Raptors. Siakam had 33 and 16 rebounds, Hield had 31, and five players were in double figures. Siakam had 10 boards out of 36, Barnes had 12 boards out of 20, Schroder had 26 boards and 6 boards had five boards.
This is Game 2 between the two teams, and with Nowitzki's absence, the Pacers' Turner absence, plus the absences of Mathurin, Smith, and Johnson, both sides will have a new round of fixtures. In the first quarter, the two sides played hard, scoring more than 30 points in each quarter. The Raptors were 14-of-21, 5-of-6 from the field and 4-of-7 from 3-pointers, with Bamot scoring 12 points and Barnes scoring eight points. The Pacers shot 5-of-27 from the field, making 6-of-12 3-pointers, and the Pacers led 31-35 in the first quarter, while Haliburton scored 10 points in the third quarter.
In the second quarter, the two began to attack wildly, and both scored 30+ points in the first two quarters, and in the second quarter, they led their opponents by 6 points with a score of 34-36. In the first two quarters, the Pacers scored 9-of-22 shooting, Haliburton had 14 7-of-7 rebounds, Jackson had 10 points, and Siakam had just 8 points and just 2-of-9. The Raptors were 5-of-12 from 3-pointers, Barnes had 14 points and six rebounds, and Bamot had 17 points to lead the team to four double-digits.
After a short break, the Raptors started the offense with an 11-point advantage and over the next three quarters, both teams scored 30+ points. In the third quarter, the Pacers took a four-point lead at 36-32, and after the first three quarters, they were only 101-103 to the Raptors, who only opened up by two points, and both teams were above 100 points in the third quarter.
At the end of the fourth quarter, the two teams were still chasing each other, and by the fourth minute, the two teams were tied at 121-121. Siakam hit a three-pointer and Bamot drew a foul, but he didn't make the second free throw. Barnes scored a two-pointer, followed by a nice three-pointer from Barnes' backup, and then Siakam added another two-pointer. Purcell's two free throws pulled the score back to one point, Jackson made two free throws to create a foul, and Barrett didn't score, and in the end, the Pacers won by a narrow margin over the Raptors.