Raptors cruise past Pacers, clinch top seed in East

[April 07, 2018]  Serge Ibaka scored 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting as the Toronto Raptors clinched the No. 1 seed in a 92-73 rout of the Indiana Pacers Friday night in Toronto.

The Raptors held the Pacers to season lows in points and shooting (29.9 percent). The previous season low was 33.7 percent in a 114-96 loss at Oklahoma City in October.

DeMar DeRozan added 12 points for the Raptors, who shot 42.9 percent. Jonas Valanciunas contributed eight points and a team-high 12 rebounds.

The Raptors, who won the season series 3-1, set a franchise record with their 57th victory, passing the 2015-16 team. The Pacers appear likely to finish in the No. 5 spot, as they sit two games back of No. 4 Cleveland and four games clear of No. 6 Miami.

Glenn Robinson III, playing in his 20th game after being sidelined much of the season with an injury, scored a season-high 12 points for Indiana. Trevor Booker added 11 points for Indiana. Pacers leading scorer Victor Oladipo, who was averaging more than 23 points, scored a season-low five points on 2-of-9 shooting. It was the first time this season that Oladipo didn't make double figures. In fact, no Pacers starter had more than five points.

After shooting nearly 54 percent in a 126-106 rout of visiting Golden State Thursday night, the Pacers certainly appeared to have tired legs.

Leading 53-42 in the third quarter, the Raptors used a 12-0 run to take a 65-42 lead. Kyle Lowry, who finished with nine points, capped the run with a 3-pointer. The Raptors expanded the lead to 72-49 after three quarters.

Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan (10) drives to the basket over Indiana Pacers center Domantas Sabonis (11) during the third quarter at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

Toronto shot 44.4 percent in the first half to take a 45-33 halftime lead. The 33 first-half points were a season low for the Pacers, who shot 25 percent. Indiana made 6 of 8 free throws while Toronto was 1-of-2 from the line.

Oladipo scored just two points in the first half. The bench scored 24 of Indiana's 33 points.

The Pacers, who trailed by as many as 17 in the first quarter, narrowed the deficit to 32-28 with 5:04 left in the second quarter. Toronto held a 13-5 edge the rest of the half

Toronto led 26-14 after the first quarter. The Raptors hit 8 of 20 attempts to take an 18-4 lead. Meanwhile, the Pacers misfired on 15 of their first 17 shot attempts. Indiana finished the quarter at 18.2 percent (5-of-23) from the field.

--Field Level Media

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