INDIANA • The Toronto Raptors' mid-season surge continued with a franchise-record 13th straight victory on Friday, a 115-106 win over the Indiana Pacers, but lost Kyle Lowry to what the team referred to as a "whiplash" injury.
Serge Ibaka scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the National Basketball Association (NBA) champions, who have not lost a game since Jan 15 and have beaten the Pacers for the second time in three days.
"We're just trying to be us," Ibaka said. "There's a lot of tough teams out there, we're just trying to focus on us and trying to do our job."
A 12-3 burst in the third quarter propelled the Raptors to an 87-78 lead, but the Pacers trimmed the deficit after Toronto's six-time All-Star Lowry departed.
The point guard had drawn a foul on Jeremy Lamb and run into Ibaka as he fell, his head and shoulder making contact with his teammate.
Lowry lay on the court for several minutes, surrounded by concerned teammates, before walking to the sideline and then the locker room.
Raptors coach Nick Nurse said Lowry was sore and would likely miss yesterday's game against the Brooklyn Nets.
The 33-year-old scored 10 of his 16 points in the first quarter to move past Vince Carter (9,420 points) for third place among the franchise's top all-time scorers.
Lowry (9,428) now trails only DeMar DeRozan (13,296) and Chris Bosh (10,275) in Raptors history.
In his 14th NBA season, eighth with Toronto, he has averaged 14.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 6.2 assists. He is ahead of that pace this season with 19.7, 4.6 and 7.3, respectively.
If he is fit enough to play, Lowry would be part of Team Giannis in the All-Star Game at Chicago next Sunday. It is the sixth All-Star selection of his career.
Indiana, who were paced by Domantas Sabonis' 19 points and 16 rebounds, have now lost a season-high four in a row, three of those coming on their home court. They remain in sixth in the Eastern Conference after dropping to 31-21.
"Once again, they just killed us in transition with 27 fast-break points," Pacers coach Nate McMillan said on ESPN. "We've just got to do a better job taking care of the ball, a better job executing our offence and really playing both sides of the basketball."
The Boston Celtics (36-15), who are third in the East behind the Milwaukee Bucks (44-7) and Toronto (38-14), notched their sixth straight success with a 112-107 win over the Atlanta Hawks.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
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