Pelicans hand Raptors first home loss
The New Orleans Pelicans ended Toronto’s perfect record at home, downing the Raptors 126-110 Monday night. E’Twaun Moore had a season-high 30 points for the Pelicans (7-6) while Jrue Holiday tied a season-high with 29. Anthony Davis had 25. Pascal Siakam led Toronto (12-2) with 22 points while Kawhi Leonard had 20 and Serge Ibaka 19. It was Siakam’s third straight 20-point game. Kyle Lowry had just four points on 1 of 9 shooting. Toronto shot just 40.2 per cent from the floor and hit just 13 of 45 three-pointers. The Raptors came into the night riding a six-game winning streak and boasting the league’s best record. Toronto’s only other loss of the season was a 124-109 decision in Milwaukee on Oct. 29. The Raptors had won all seven previous home games. Going into Monday’s play, Toronto, Memphis and Milwaukee were the only remaining unbeaten teams at home. Toronto had won 12 of the last 14 meetings with the Pelicans and swept the last three season series. Not this year. Its offence misfiring and defence out of sorts, Toronto trailed by as many as 13 in the third quarter. New Orleans had 56 points in the paint in the first three quarters, compared to 26 for the Raptors. The deficit was 11 entering the fourth quarter. An early 7-0 run, thanks in part to a pair of Pelican turnovers, narrowed the lead to six. But New Orleans responded with an 8-0 run. Toronto’s OG Anunoby ripped off five points with a three-pointer and a steal to cut the lead to nine. New Orleans kept answering, however. The Pelicans were without a pair of starters in point guard Elfrid Payton and forward Nikola Mirotic, both with sprained ankles. Payton, the son of Canadian Football Hall of Famer Elfrid Payton Sr., and Mirotic have averaged a combined 32.2 points, 17.7 rebounds and 7.7 assists a game. The only Raptor missing was Norman Powell (shoulder). Toronto came into the contest third in the league in scoring (117.9 per game) while New Orleans was fourth (117.7). And the scoreboard turned over quickly, thanks in part to some wonky Toronto defence. Shooting just 40 per cent, the Raptors trailed by five at the half after giving up a season-high 66 points. Ibaka (17) and Leonard (15) accounted for almost half of Toronto’s total. Ibaka has now scored in double figures in 13 consecutive games, the third-longest streak of his career and longest since 2014. New Orleans hit four of its first five shots and led by as many six in the first quarter with Toronto missing its first six three-pointers before Siakam finally sank one from distance. Moore led the visitors with 12 points in a back-and-forth first quarter that finished with the Pelicans up by two. Lowry, missing his first five shots of any variety, didn’t get on the scoreboard until 2:43 remaining in the first half when he sank a pair of free throws. Toronto’s C.J. Miles did not finish the first half, sidelined by a right adductor strain. Toronto welcomes the Detroit Pistons and former coach Dwane Casey on Wednesday.