"He deserved it because he has been working his tail off on his shooting."
Thursday 6 February 2020 09:28, UK
Serge Ibaka said Raptors coach Nick Nurse gave him the confidence that resulted in his game-winning shot that extended Toronto's winning streak to 12 games.
Ibaka hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 30 seconds remaining as the Raptors rallied from 19 points down to beat the Indiana Pacers 119-118, setting a franchise record for consecutive victories.
Ibaka had missed five of his six attempts from three-point range, but didn't hesitate when it was time to take the biggest shot of the game.
"He deserved it because he has been working his tail off on his shooting," said Raptors coach Nurse.
Ibaka said a pep talk from Nurse inspired him to keep firing even after he struggled from distance early.
"Nick told me in a timeout, Serge, keep shooting with confidence, just push the ball," Ibaka said. "He gave me a lot of confidence."
Kyle Lowry had 32 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, and Ibaka scored a season-high 30 as Toronto fought back after trailing by 11 with less than four minutes to play. The defending NBA champions scored the final 11 points of the game.
"We play 48 minutes, Lowry said. "That is how we play. We gave ourselves a chance, put the press on, made some shots, got aggressive and played better defense down the stretch."
Toronto's closing offense was pretty good, too. A trio of Raptors scored in double figures in the fourth, led by Ibaka's 15 points.
Pascal Siakam scored 25 points, Terence Davis had 11 and Fred VanVleet added 10 to help the Raptors earn their 12th straight home win over Indiana.
Malcolm Brogdon scored 24 points and Justin Holiday added a season-best 22, but the Pacers lost their third straight overall. Domantas Sabonis had 15 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his third career triple-double.
"Poor execution the last five minutes of the game," Pacers coach Nate McMillan said.
Indiana guard Victor Oladipo started for the first time since returning from injury last week and scored a season-high 13 points in 25 minutes.
"I feel like I played a little better today," Oladipo said. "I could actually feel my legs kind of getting under me, especially defensively.
"It's a tough loss, obviously, but there is a lot of basketball left," he added. "We have just got to continue to keep getting better, keep getting stronger, and getting healthy as well. Everything else will take care of itself."
The Raptors trailed 106-103 after Siakam's driving dunk with 5:05 left, but Holiday made a three, Oladipo hit a jumper and Brogdon connected from deep to put the Pacers up 114-103 with 3:50 to go.
Siakam hit one of two at the line with 1:15 left to bring Toronto within four, then forced a steal and drove for a lay-up to make it 118-116 with 1:06 remaining.
The Pacers called a timeout and gave the ball to Oladipo, but his shot didn't fall, leading to Ibaka's go-ahead triple at the other end.
Oladipo missed a three-pointer with 10 seconds to play and VanVleet stripped Brogdon to seal an historic win for Toronto.
