ALL TIED UP
RAPTORS LOSE TO INDIANA.
Paul George scored 18 of his 35 points in the third quarter and the desperate Indiana Pacers rallied from a 19-point, first-half deficit and blew out Toronto, 10890, in National Basketball Association action.
The Pacers ended a four-game losing streak Tuesday night that saw them slide from a tie for the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference to the very real possibility of missing the post-season.
DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points and Jonas Valanciunas had 10 points and 10 rebounds for Toronto, which had won its previous two.
It was an astounding comeback for Indiana, which was so lethargic in the first half it needed an 8-2 spurt just to get within 51-40 at halftime.
The game was marred by a shoving match between Indiana’s Lance Stephenson and DeRozan with 3.3 seconds left. The melee spilled down the sideline and into the Pacers’ bench, where Toronto’s P.J. Tucker was still jawing with Pacers players. Stephenson, Tucker and DeRozan all received technical fouls.
But it couldn’t taint one of the Pacers’ biggest turnarounds of the season — a game they hope will help them make a final push into the post-season.
Indiana took its first lead on Jeff Teague’s 3pointer with 5:48 left in the third, then watched George close out the quarter by scoring 14 of the Pacers’ last 19 points. Toronto never challenged again after the Pacers opened the fourth quarter on an 11-2 run to make it 88-77.
TIP-INS Raptors: Now trail Boston by 3½ games in the Atlantic Division with four games to go . ... Despite Tuesday’s loss, Toronto has won nine of the past 11 regular-season games and three straight season series against Indiana . ... The Raptors finished with 11 assists, ending a streak of five straight games with 20 or more. ... DeMarre Carroll had 11 points.