Brogdon-less Pacers find winning way with Holiday
Warren and Myles Turner scored 24 points apiece, Aaron Holiday sank two 3-pointers late and the host Indiana Pacers outlasted the Toronto Raptors 120-115 in overtime on Monday night.
Holiday, who started at point guard for the injured Malcolm Brogdon, hit a 3-pointer to give the Pacers a 116-113 lead with 2:05 remaining in overtime. Then he drained another for a 119-115 advantage with 54 seconds remaining.
Holiday finished with 19 points, including 5 of 10 on 3-pointers. The Pacers (2110) hit 18 of 42 from beyond the arc. The Raptors (21-9), who had a five-game win streak snapped, were just 11 of 40 on 3-pointers.
Raptors guard Kyle Lowry led all scorers with 30 points. Serge Ibaka added 23 and Fred VanVleet 21 for the defending NBA champions.
Both teams missed potential game-winning shots in the final minute of regulation as Holiday’s layup was too long off the glass before Lowry’s last-second 3-pointer bounced off the front of the rim.
HARRIS LEADS 76ERS BY FORMER TEAM >> Tobias Harris scored 35 points against his former team and Ben Simmons added a tripledouble as the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Detroit Pistons 125-109.
Joel Embiid had 20 points and eight rebounds for the 76ers, who improved to 11-4 in their last 15 games.
Simmons finished with 16 points, a career-high 17 assists and 13 rebounds, while reserve Furkan Korkmaz added a career-high 21. Andre Drummond had 27 for the Pistons, who have lost five in a row.
ROSS PACES MAGIC PAST BULLS >> Terrence Ross scored a season-high 26 points to help the Orlando Magic break a three-game losing streak with a 10395 victory over the Chicago Bulls.
Zach LaVine led Chicago with 26 points on 8-of26 shooting, but the Bulls managed only 14 points in the fourth quarter. Tomas Satoransky added 20 points and was 4 of 5 on 3-point shots.
CAVS HOLD OFF HAWKS >> Collin Sexton scored 25 points, rookie Darius Garland had 21 and the Cleveland Cavaliers held off a late Atlanta comeback for a 121-118 victory.
Trae Young scored 30 points, but his 3-pointer that would have tied the game in the closing seconds hit off the front of the rim and sent Atlanta to its eighth straight defeat. CELTICS’ KANTER THANKS CANADA >> Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter says he will be able to play in his team’s Christmas Day game in Toronto against the Raptors after discussions with the Canadian government.
In a column published Monday by The Globe and Mail, the native of Turkey thanked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government as well as other officials from Canada and the U.S. for getting him the green light to cross the border to play in the NBA’s first Christmas game in Toronto.
Kanter, an outspoken critic of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo an’s government for its treatment of residents, has not traveled outside the United States for years. Kanter has said his passport was revoked by the Turkish government in 2017.
The Globe’s headline reads, “Thank you, Canada, for letting me play basketball — despite Turkey’s threats against me.” BUTLER LEADS HEAT TO 13TH HOME WIN >> Jimmy Butler scored 20 points, Bam Adebayo added 18 points and 12 rebounds and Miami beat Utah to improve the NBA’s best home record to 13-1.
Tyler Herro scored nine of his 17 points in the fourth for Miami.
• The Cavaliers reportedly agreed to trade Jordan Clarkson to the Utah Jazz for guard Dante Exum and two future second-round draft picks.