TORONTO (AP) — Paul George scored 33 points, Monta Ellis had 15 and the Indiana Pacers beat the Toronto Raptors 100-90 in Game 1 of their first round playoff series on Saturday.
Jonas Valanciunas fouled out after scoring 12 points and setting a Raptors’ playoff record with 19 rebounds.
All-Star guards Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan both struggled for the second-seeded Raptors. Lowry made 3 of 13 field goal attempts while DeRozan made 5 of 19. The pair went 1 for 10 from 3-point range and 8 for 15 at the free-throw line.
DeRozan finished with 14 points and Lowry had 11. Corey Joseph scored 18.
Toronto dropped to 0-8 in the first game of an opening round playoff series.
Solomon Hill scored 13 points while George Hill and Evan Turner each had 10 for the Pacers.
A pair of free throws by Bismack Biyombo tied it at 76-all with 6:46 left in the fourth quarter but Rodney Stuckey answered with a 3 for Indiana.
Toronto trailed 84-81 after Lowry made 1 of 2 at the line with 4:02 to go, but the Pacers scored 11 of the next 12 points to lead 95-82 after a 3 by Ellis with 1:49 left.
Toronto, first-round losers in each of the past two seasons, has never won a seven-game playoff series. Its only postseason triumph was a five-game series over the Knicks in 2001.
Valanciunas had eight points and nine rebounds in the first and the Raptors made seven of 10 free throw attempts to lead 24-19 after one.
A 3 by Patterson put Toronto up 36-28 with 5:44 left in the second, but C.J. Miles scored five points and a 3 by Ellis tied at 41 with 1:19 remaining. Joseph had eight points in the quarter and the Raptors led 45-43 at halftime.
George scored 17 points in the third by connecting on 6 of 7 field-goal attempts, including three 3-pointers and a fast-break dunk, as the Pacers took a 70-67 lead into the fourth.
TIP-INS
Pacers: Indiana snapped a five-game losing streak at Air Canada Centre. The Pacers had not won in Toronto since March 1, 2013. … George shot 2 for 9 in the first half and 10 for 13 in the second. … Solomon Hill finished 10 for 10 at the free-throw line.
Raptors: Valanciunas set a franchise record with 15 first-half rebounds. … Toronto had not led at halftime in the first game of a playoff series since Game 1 of their conference semifinal series at Philadelphia on May, 6, 2001.
UP NEXT
Game 2 is Monday night at 7 p.m. in Toronto.
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