RAPTORS TO TEST PACERS' GOOD RUN

Versatile Siakam again key for struggling Indiana against the inconsistent Toronto

- 

Indiana, who are on a season-high three-game winning streak, host the Toronto Raptors on Jan 14 night (Jan 15 morning, Singapore time) in Indianapolis.

The Pacers are battling the New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings and Washington Wizards for the league’s worst record, and they currently sit in the Eastern Conference cellar.

Without star Tyrese Haliburton, who ruptured his right Achilles tendon in Game 7 of last season’s NBA Finals defeat by the Oklahoma City Thunder, the team lost 13 of their first 14 games.

The nightmares did not end there. After going a respectable 5-5 in their next 10 games, Indiana went a full month without a victory, leaving Rick Carlisle stuck on 999 career wins.

He finally became the 11th coach to reach 1,000 victories last week in a 114-112 road victory over the Charlotte Hornets, and Indiana have since defeated the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics.

Their 98-96 victory over the Celtics on Jan 12, thanks to Pascal Siakam’s 7-foot bank shot with 6.8 seconds left, is the team’s best of the season.

Siakam, a former Raptor and three-time All-Star who was named the Most Valuable Player of the Eastern Conference Finals last spring, has persevered through this 9-31 campaign.