Brandon Ingram hit a game-winning pullup jumper in the final second Wednesday night as the Toronto Raptors defeated the visiting Indiana Pacers 97-95 in an NBA Cup game for their ninth straight win.
Ingram finished with 26 points and Scottie Barnes added 24 points and 10 rebounds as the Raptors finished first in the East Group A at 4-0.
Immanuel Quickley scored 15 points and dished six assists for Toronto, and Ja’Kobe Walter contributed 13 points.
T.J. McConnell scored 16 points for the Pacers, who are 0-3 in the NBA Cup and have dropped three straight overall. Bennedict Mathurin added 15 points and missed a last-second 3-point attempt to end the game. Jarace Walker scored 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds, Pascal Siakam had 11 points and Jay Huff finished with 10.
Toronto led by six points after three quarters, but the margin was down to one just over a minute into the fourth quarter.
Indiana took an 83-81 lead on Mathurin’s 3-pointer with 8:21 remaining, and the Pacers went up by three with 6:04 left on a dunk by Huff.
Toronto moved back in front 91-90 when Barnes made two free throws with 4:11 to play. After the Pacers tied it, Ingram’s 6-footer gave the Raptors a 93-91 lead with 3:35 remaining. Huff’s dunk leveled the game with 2:40 to play before Ingram hit another jumper.
McConnell’s layup tied the game again, 95-95 with 1:33 left before Ingram’s winning shot with 0.6 seconds to go.
The Pacers used tenacious defense to lead 25-21 after one quarter.
Indiana kept the Raptors off balance and scored the first five points of the second quarter. The visitors went up by 11 points on Isaiah Jackson’s dunk with 7:11 to go in the period, but Toronto finished the first half on a 12-0 run to take a 50-49.
Toronto reserve Gradey Dick left the game in the second quarter after a hard fall on a rebound and did not return.
In the third quarter, Walter hit two 3-pointers and Ingram had two baskets to extend the run to 22-0. Siakam made a free throw to end the Pacers’ drought, but Ingram’s 3-pointer with 8:29 left increased the lead to 13. Toronto was up 76-70 after the third.
