Indiana Pacers put season-best winning streak on the line against the Toronto Raptors
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Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam shooting the ball during the 98-96 NBA win over the Boston Celtics at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Jan 12.
PHOTO: REUTERS
INDIANA – In the midst of what has been a nightmarish 2025-26 National Basketball Association (NBA) campaign, the defending Eastern Conference champions Indiana Pacers may finally be seeing the light.
Indiana, who are on a season-high three-game winning streak, host the Toronto Raptors on Jan 14 night (Jan 15 morning, Singapore time) in Indianapolis.
The Pacers are battling the New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings and Washington Wizards for the league’s worst record, and they currently sit in the Eastern Conference cellar.
Without star Tyrese Haliburton, who ruptured his right Achilles tendon in Game 7 of last season’s NBA Finals defeat by the Oklahoma City Thunder, the team lost 13 of their first 14 games.
The nightmares did not end there. After going a respectable 5-5 in their next 10 games, Indiana went a full month without a victory, leaving Rick Carlisle stuck on 999 career wins.
He finally became the 11th coach to reach 1,000 victories last week in a 114-112 road victory over the Charlotte Hornets, and Indiana have since defeated the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics.
Their 98-96 victory over the Celtics on Jan 12, thanks to Pascal Siakam’s 7-foot bank shot with 6.8 seconds left, is the team’s best of the season.
Siakam, a former Raptor and three-time All-Star who was named the Most Valuable Player of the Eastern Conference Finals last spring, has persevered through this 9-31 campaign.
The 31-year-old Cameroonian leads the Pacers with 23.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals.
“He epitomises versatility at that position,” Carlisle said.
“For a power forward or a four man or however you want to label that position, it’s not just scoring, rebounding, defence – it’s also ball-handling and playmaking... A great deal of responsibility falls on him. He’s just been so graceful with everything he’s accepted.”
In the visiting Raptors (24-17), Indiana are facing a team who have struggled the last several weeks after an early-season nine-game win streak propelled them up the Eastern Conference ladder. They currently sit fourth in the conference standings.
Toronto dropped a 115-102 decision to Philadelphia on Jan 12, allowing the 76ers to score 80 first-half points. The Raptors finished a combined 27 games below .500 the past two seasons, so third-year coach Darko Rajakovic is taking this year’s highs and lows in stride.
“Obviously, we’re making significant strides. Players individually are getting better,” he said after their home loss. “There’s a lot of reason for us to look back and be satisfied with what we’ve achieved, but that doesn’t change the fact that we need to go another 42 games... so we need to constantly be hungry.”
Toronto won the first two games between the teams, posting both victories over a 12-day span in the middle of November.
Meanwhile in NBA action on Jan 13, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points as the Thunder snapped a three-game losing streak against the San Antonio Spurs with a 119-98 victory over their Western Conference rivals.
He said Oklahoma City’s improved defence finally allowed the Thunder to claim a victory over San Antonio at the fourth attempt this season.
“Since the first time we played them we weren’t able to get stops, keep them out of transition – but tonight we did that,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
“This team had got the better of us the last few times we played them, and that doesn’t happen to this group. Uncomfortable feelings and adversity is where you go to find who you are. We showed it tonight.”
Elsewhere, LeBron James compiled 31 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, Luka Doncic added 27 points with 12 assists and the Los Angeles Lakers ended a three-game losing streak with a 141-116 victory over the visiting Atlanta Hawks.
In other news, Anthony Davis will not require surgery on his injured left hand after all, the Dallas Mavericks announced after the star big man consulted his own physician.
It was the latest twist in a story that saw multiple developments during the day – from reports that he would likely be sidelined after undergoing an operation to repair ligament damage in his hand, to Davis disputing the reports on X.
Dallas confirmed that Davis’ medical evaluation determined that the injury will heal in about six weeks without surgery. REUTERS, AFP
