THE Indiana Pacers were able to defend their home court against the Toronto Raptors with a score of 110–106. However, the team’s all-star guard, Victor Oladipo (4), suffered a right knee injury during the first half.
With four minutes and five seconds left on the clock during the second quarter, Oladipo tried to intercept an outlet pass to Toronto’s Pascal Siakam when he suddenly howled in pain and sprawled on the ground, holding his right knee.
Medical staff immediately went to check on him while players from both teams surrounded him.
Oladipo was then carried by a stretcher and escorted to the hospital. Fans cheered for him while he was carried off the court. Pacer official said that Oladipo would have to undergo a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on Thursday, January 24 (Friday, January 25, Manila time).
Dan Burke, assistant head coach of the Pacers, said during the halftime of the game that they need to focus and do business as usual even without Oladipo.
After the game, Darren Collison, Oladipo’s teammate and point guard for the Pacers, addressed to the crowd that the team needed to continue to dig deep until his return.
Fellow NBA superstars such as Paul George of Oklahoma City Thunder, Lebron James of Los Angeles Lakers, Devin Booker of Phoenix Suns, and Bradley Beal of Washington Wizards were the first to send out their support to Oladipo.
Meanwhile, the Pacers was able to fend off the Raptors thanks to Thaddeus Young’s performance of 23 points and 15 rebounds along with Nick Collison’s 16 points to win their 3rd straight win and snapped a 5 game losing streak against the Raptors.
The Raptors were led by Serge Ibaka’s 23 points and 11 rebounds together with Kyle Lowry’s 20 point game.
The Raptors played without Kawhi Leonard, Jonas Valanciunas, and OG Anunoby in the lineup.
The Pacers led with a score of 24–16 in the end of the first quarter. This momentum was carried early into the second quarter with the Pacers extending the lead to a 30-10 gap. Before halftime, the Pacers had a 9-4 run which resulted to 59–47 on the scoreboard.
The game was controlled by the Pacers in the second half until Ibaka closed the gap to 98–97 with four minutes and 20 seconds left in the game. However, Thaddeus Young and the Pacers were able to stop the Raptor’s run with a three-point play and a couple of smart plays to hold on to win. (Jayvee Gulfan, USC intern)