C.J. Miles scored 22 points Darren Woodson Jersey , OG Anunoby had a career-high 21 and the Raptors beat the Orlando Magic 112-101 on Sunday night.
Serge Ibaka scored 13 points, and Jakob Poeltl and Delon Wright each had 12. The Raptors closed out their home schedule by extending their franchise records for wins (58) and home wins (34).
”We shot the ball confidently,” Toronto’s Kyle Lowry said. ”We needed that, heading into the next couple of weeks, shooting the ball confidently.”
After clinching the top spot in the Eastern Conference on Friday night with a win over Indiana, the Raptors gave guard DeMar DeRozan and center Jonas Valanciunas the night off. Toronto will rest players again Monday night at Detroit, then return to full strength Wednesday night for the regular-season finale at Miami.
”It’s not like we totally need rest, but I think it’s the prudent thing to do for our team,” coach Dwane Casey said.
Lowry scored 11 points as the Raptors converted 39 of 78 field goal attempts. Anonoby made five of eight from 3-point range, while Miles hit 5 of 10. Toronto made 17 of 40 from beyond the arc.
”We didn’t guard the 3-point line well enough,” Magic coach Frank Vogel said.
Aaron Gordon scored 16 points and Mario Hezonja had 14 for Orlando. The Magic lost for the eighth time in 11 games. Toronto has beaten Orlando twice in that stretch.
Magic rookie Khem Birch, who was born in Montreal, matched his career high with 12 points and added a career-high 12 rebounds in his first NBA game in Canada.
”He just impacts the game in the right way,” Vogel said. ”He was really good tonight.”
Raptors center Lucas Nogueria made his third start of the season in place of Valanciunas but left midway through the first quarter with a sore left hamstring and did not return. Casey said Nogueira would undergo an MRI.
Norm Powell, who started in DeRozan’s place Authentic Evgenii Dadonov Jersey , suffered a sprained left ankle in the first quarter but returned in the second. Powell finished with 13 points.
Guard Fred VanVleet left in the second quarter with a sore lower back and did not return, but Casey said VanVleet’s injury was not considered serious.
”If he’d had to have played, he’d have played,” Casey said.
Orlando’s Terrence Ross returned after missing more than four months because of injuries to his right knee and leg.
”I felt good,” Ross said. ”It didn’t hurt at all. It was nice shaking off some of the rust.”
Ross, who started his career with the Raptors, had been sidelined since Nov. 29. He scored three points in 10 minutes.
”It’s great to see him back out there,” Vogel said. ”He can do a lot of things. He’s going to help us when he’s back next year and at full strength.”
TIP-INS
Magic: Vucevic (back) and Gordon (right calf) returned to the starting lineup after sitting out Friday’s loss to Charlotte. Vucevic finished with 10 points and nine rebounds. . Orlando is 8-32 on the road.
Raptors: G Delon Wright thanked fans foe their support in a brief pregame address. … Toronto’s season-high for attempted 3-pointers is 44, set Oct. 21 against Philadelphia in the second game of the regular season.
COOKIN’ AT HOME
Toronto and Houston both went 34-7 at home this season, tying for the best mark in the NBA.
MAGIC TRICK
The Raptors swept the season series against the Magic for the first time since 2015-15. Toronto has won 18 of its past 21 meetings with Orlando.
THINKING OF YOU
A moment of silence was held before the game in honor of the 15 members of the Saskatchewan junior hockey team killed when a semi-trailer hit its bus Friday.
UP NEXT
Magic: At Milwaukee on Monday night. The Magic have lost nine of their past 10 road games in the series.
Raptors: At Detroit on Monday night. The Raptors have won five straight against the Pistons.
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CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Indiana Pacers have in front of them a playoff opponent who they beat in three of four games this season.
No one’s kidding themselves about it, though: The Pacers know playoff LeBron and playoff Cleveland Cavaliers are a whole different beast.
The No. 4 Cavs host the No. 5 Pacers in Game 1 of a first-round series Sunday.
“We all know the playoffs are a different ballgame,” Pacers guard Darren Collison said.
The Cavs swept the Pacers out of the first round last season. Both teams have changed so dramatically since that series so in a sense, little can be taken from it.
Where that line of thinking stalls, though Cheap Ryan Switzer Jersey , is at the feet of LeBron James.
James, arguably the most dominant player in the first round of the NBA playoffs, has won 21 games in a row in the opening round (an NBA record). He’s never lost a first-round series (12-0), nor even a Game 1 of any first round. The last time his team lost any game in the first round was May 6, 2012, when the Miami Heat lost by two to the New York Knicks in Game 4.
That series was over the next game.
“We do a great job of getting prepared,” said James, who’s averaging 29 points, 8.8 boards, and 6.9 assists in the first round. “And every team I’ve been on has always been prepared going into the first round of the postseason and I feel like we’re well prepared again.”
Paul George was the Pacers’ best player last season. He was traded to Oklahoma City for Victor Oladipo, who is now Indiana’s best player. He averaged career highs in points (23.1 per game), rebounds (5.2), and assists (4.3).
Domantas Sabonis was another key piece in the George trade. He’s averaging 11.6 points and 7.7 boards, mostly off the bench.
Collison is Indiana’s new point guard. He averaged 12.4 points and led the NBA with a .468 3-point field-goal percentage.
The Cavs’ changes are even starker, perhaps because they’ve undergone two sets of them.
Cleveland traded Kyrie Irving last summer for Isaiah Thomas Authentic Rick Leonard Jersey , Ante Zizic, Jae Crowder, and two draft picks. The Cavs also signed Derrick Rose and Dwyane Wade.
On Feb. 8, Thomas, Crowder, Rose, and Wade (and Channing Frye and Iman Shumpert) were all traded away for George Hill, Rodney Hood, Larry Nance Jr. and Jordan Clarkson.
All four of the Cavs-Pacers games took place before those trades.
So if you’re trying to glean anything for this series from what happened in the regular season, don’t.
“They’re moving the basketball, getting up and down the court a little quicker, they’re shooting better as a team,” Indiana forward Thaddeus Young said of Cleveland. “I think they’re better with those things since the trades and they’ve got some really good pieces. But at the end of the day, they’re still a beatable team.”
James said “I don’t have any concerns” about this series, though he said the Cavs and Pacers were the fourth and fifth seeds Omar Vizquel Jersey , respectively, for a reason.
“Both teams played good ball at times throughout the regular season,” James said. “Obviously their season, from the outside looking in, was more productive than ours because of what they went through in the offseason. But we went through a lot in the offseason as well. It’s a good matchup and we look forward to the challenge.”
The Cavs have been to the last three NBA Finals, but have only four players (James, Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, and JR Smith) left from the 2016 title team. Four players — Cedi Osman, Zizic, Clarkson, and Nance — have never played a playoff game.
And for the first time in his career, Love will be Cleveland’s second scoring option in the playoffs instead of its third.
“We’re going to be a tough team to beat in four games,” Love said. “We have the best player in the world and a lot of guys that are hungry to go out and prove what they can do.”
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