The Canadian Press
Lori Ewing
TORONTO–In the span 60 seconds, Kyle Lowry drilled a three-pointer, took a charge from 6’8″ bulldozer Thaddeus Young, and drew a foul on a basket for a three-point play.
And the game wasn’t yet three minutes old.
Playing for the first time since missing 10 of the previous 11 games, Lowry made his presence felt early in the Toronto Raptors’ 121-105 victory over Indiana yesterday before finishing with 12 points and eight assists.
“Good to be out there with my guys, felt good to be able to help them get a win,” said Lowry, who had been out first with a thigh contusion, then lower back pain.
Eight Raptors scored in double figures. Norm Powell had a season-high 23 points, Serge Ibaka finished with 18, and Danny Green had 15.
Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet added 12 each, Greg Monroe chipped in with 11, and Delon Wright had 10.
Bojan Bogdanovic had 21 to top the Pacers (26-13), who saw their six-game win streak snapped.
Lowry’s return came in a game Kawhi Leonard sat out for body maintenance. Head coach Nick Nurse was happy to have his four-time all-star back.
“Very good leadership,” Nurse said on Lowry’s presence. “You can just sense an organized attack at both ends.
“He goes 4-for-10, 12 points, eight assists, but there’s about 32 other things out there that you’re not seeing that he’s doing that don’t get recorded on the stat sheet.”
The Raptors were coming off a big 123-116 victory the previous night in Milwaukee. And a night after cruising past the No. 1 team in the East, the second-place Raptors (30-12) pulled away from No. 3 Indiana in the second half.
They got off to a strong start, took a double-digit lead in the second quarter, and had stretched it to 96-84 to start the fourth.
“Last night [Saturday] was unbelievable in Milwaukee,” Lowry said. “Those guys played their asses off.”
The Pacers pulled to within eight with a 4-0 run to start the fourth. But that surge was short-lived, thanks largely to Powell, who had nine points in five minutes.
His basket with 6:13 to play put the Raptors up by 17 points.
“They were the aggressors all night long,” said Pacers’ coach Nate McMillan. “I thought they had the energy out there. They established their pace.
“We didn’t really establish that we could stop that team all night long.”
Cory Joseph drilled a “three” to pull the Pacers to within 13 with 1:34 to play, but fellow Canadian Chris Boucher answered with a “trey” 10 seconds later.
The Raptors shot 51.8 percent on the night, and 51.5 percent from behind the arc. And a night after the bench was embarassed by the Bucks, the second unit outscored Indiana’s 52-27.
“It’s a team game and our bench didn’t have a great night [Saturday], but tonight they stepped up,” Lowry said.
“Like I always say, it’s not an individual sport,” he stressed. “It’s a team game and tonight was a great effort from everybody.
“Eight players in double figure scoring. That’s pretty good.”
Nurse had mentioned potentially easing Lowry back into action. The guard still is not 100 percent–he laid on his back rather than sit on the bench when he wasn’t on the floor.
“I had a couple things that made it a little sore,” Lowry said. “But it’s not gonna be something that just goes completely away.
“But [need] to maintain it and stay on it, and make sure that it stays as minimum as possible.”
Leonard, meanwhile, has yet to play in back-to-back games this season. The team remains cautious with the star’s health after he missed all but nine games last season with San Antonio.
“Just resting him after a heavy week. Think it’s just the best thing to do,” Nurse reasoned.