Brandon Ingram helps Raptors stay warm

TORONTO – Brandon Ingram knew he had Pascal Siakam exactly where he wanted him.

Ingram and Siakam had battled one-on-one as time expired in the fourth quarter of Wednesday night’s game between the Toronto Raptors and the Indiana Pacers. With the game tied at 95–95 and Siakam defending against him, Ingram made a 13-foot pull-up jump shot, putting the Raptors up by two with 0.6 seconds left.

“I knew he was in big trouble, and I knew he didn’t want to be too aggressive, so he was at my mercy at that point,” Ingram said. “I just wanted to be super aggressive, super aggressive.

“I saw him keep backing up and I just kept being aggressive and getting in my spot.”

After a full timeout, Montreal’s Bennedict Mathurin missed a 7-yard bank shot for the Pacers, ending the game.

Ingram finished with 26 points and eight rebounds as the Raptors won their ninth straight game. It was his first game-winning shot since the New Orleans Pelicans traded him to Toronto on Feb. 6.

“Everyone knows why BI is here and what he does for our team, and there is no secret to that,” said head coach Darko Rajakovic. “He not only does a great job of scoring in those situations, but also makes the play.

“He has shown it again and again this season.”

The Raptors are first in the Atlantic Division, two games higher than the New York Knicks, and second in the Eastern Conference, 1 1/2 games behind the Detroit Pistons.

Toronto finished the group stage of the Emirates NBA Cup with a perfect 4-0. That, along with the Milwaukee Bucks’ 106-103 loss to the Miami Heat earlier Wednesday, secured a top-two seed and home games in the quarterfinals of the season tournament.

Ingram and Rajakovic said the Raptors aren’t paying any attention to their win streak, but the 28-year-old forward said the regular-season tournament will help Toronto prepare for a playoff run.

“It builds confidence,” he said at a post-match conference. “It’s kind of an early play-off game, where you’re trying to compete for something.

“It’s all experience for what we want.”

Scottie Barnes had a double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds for a banged-up Toronto team. Immanuel Quickley added 15 points, six assists and five rebounds.

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Toronto had an uncharacteristically poor game from three-point range, going 5-for-26 (19.2 percent) from beyond the arc. The Raptors’ three-point percentage heading into the game was 37.8 percent, which is tied with the Denver Nuggets for sixth in the NBA.

“You have to win in different ways,” Quickley said. “You have to win when you don’t shoot well, you have to win sometimes when you turn the ball over, you have to win ugly.

“There are 82 games in the season. You’re not always going to shoot the ball well, but you can always play defense. You can always bring energy and effort and that’s what we did tonight.”

Toronto backup forward Gradey Dick left the court in the first quarter and did not return after taking a hard fall while going up for an offensive rebound. Rajakovic said after the game that Dick was doing well, but had to be held out of the game to adhere to the league’s concussion protocol.

The Raptors announced earlier Wednesday that swingman RJ Barrett of Mississauga, Ont., would be out at least another week with a sprained knee.

TJ McConnell came off the bench with 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists as Indiana (2-16) lost its third straight game. Jarace Walker had 13 points and was one rebound away from a double-double.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 26, 2025.

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