Raptors Make It 8 Consecutive Home Wins, Lakers Hush Thunder In Overtime
18th January 2019
Siakam's basket, which was upheld by a video review, bounced off the backboard and went in after Suns' Mikal Bridges had tied it 109-109 with 13 seconds to go
- Pascal Siakam banked in the winning shot at the final buzzer as the Toronto Raptors won their eighth consecutive home game with a 111-109 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Thursday
- oronto coach Nick Nurse wasn't please that his team squandered a 16-point lead but he was happy with the way Siakam closed it out. "He made a great move and finished it off."
- Elsewhere, Joel Embiid played through the pain of a sore back to finish with 22 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists as the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Indiana Pacers 120-96
- In Oklahoma City, Kyle Kuzma scored 32 points as the LeBron James-less Los Angeles Lakers held on to beat the mistake-prone Oklahoma City Thunder 138-128 in overtime
LOS ANGELES, United
States- Pascal Siakam banked in the winning shot at the final buzzer as the
Toronto Raptors won their eighth consecutive home game with a 111-109 victory
over the Phoenix Suns on Thursday.
Siakam's basket, which was upheld by a video review, bounced
off the backboard and went in after Suns' Mikal Bridges had tied it 109-109
with 13 seconds to go.
"To be honest I didn't know what I was going to do. I
just wanted to take the last shot, whatever shot that was," Siakam
said.
"We came out early and had lead and let them get back
in the game. We knew they were going to fight. We just had to make the big
plays and we did."
Siakam finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds, Serge Ibaka
scored 22 points and Kyle Lowry had 16 points and nine rebounds for the
Raptors, who have won six of their last seven contests.
"We call him P-Skills for a reason," said CJ
Miles. "He's got a lot of skills. There's a lot of things he can do with
the basketball."
Toronto coach Nick Nurse wasn't please that his team
squandered a 16-point lead but he was happy with the way Siakam closed it out.
"He made a great move and finished it off."
Miles returned from missing a couple of games with a hip
problem to score 13 points and Fred VanVleet finished with 15 in the win.
Phoenix's Devin Booker scored 30 points, Deandre Ayton had
15 points and 17 rebounds, and Kelly Oubre scored 18 in the loss as the Raptors
swept a back-to-back season series against the Suns for the first time.
Toronto played without star Kawhi Leonard who was rested.
The Raptors lead 32-20 at the end of the first quarter,
shooting four-of-nine from three-point range. Phoenix also fell behind 57-49 at
the half.
Lowry, 32, came into the game needing six assists to reach
5,000 for his career. He got it in the fourth quarter dishing to Ibaka for a
bucket.
Lowry milestone
"I would have never thought I would have gotten there
at the start of my career," said Lowry. "I'll look back on this when
I retire."
Elsewhere, Joel Embiid played through the pain of a sore
back to finish with 22 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists as the
Philadelphia 76ers beat the Indiana Pacers 120-96.
Embiid winced and grabbed his back several times during the
contest but still managed to post his 12th double-double in the past 13 games.
He also has 38 double-doubles this season.
Jimmy Butler scored 27 points and JJ Redick added 20,
including a half dozen from beyond the arc in the win.
Mike Muscala also contributed 11 while Ben Simmons had 11
points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
Thaddeus Young scored 27 points while Victor Oladipo added
15 on six-of-20 shooting for Indiana, who had a four-game winning streak
snapped. Tyreke Evans had 13 in the loss.
In Oklahoma City, Kyle Kuzma scored 32 points as the LeBron
James-less Los Angeles Lakers held on to beat the mistake-prone Oklahoma City
Thunder 138-128 in overtime.
Ivica Zubac came off the bench to score a career-high 26
points and grabbed 12 rebounds, Lonzo Ball tallied 18 points and had 10 assists
as the Lakers played their 12th straight game without James and Rajon Rondo.
They are 5-7 with James and Rondo out of the lineup.
Paul George scored a team-high 27 points, Russell Westbrook
had 26 points and 13 assists for the struggling Thunder, who lost for the fifth
time in their last six.
The Thunder compiled an early lead but then wheels fell off
late as they made just two of 12 from beyond the arc and attempted just one
field goal in the extra session.
In London, England, Bradley Beal scored 26 points as the
Washington Wizards rallied from a 16-point deficit to defeat the New York
Knicks 101-100 in front of a crowd of 19,000 at O2 Arena.
Allonzo Trier was called for goaltending on a layup
attempt by Thomas Bryant with 0.4 seconds remaining, giving
the Wizards the win.