Local Sports

Pacers Win; Bulls Lose

Kyle Lowry had 20 points and 10 assists, Serge Ibaka also scored 20 points and the Toronto Raptors cruised into the All-Star break with their seventh straight victory, 122-98 over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night.
 
Lowry made four 3-pointers, and he and Ibaka each grabbed seven rebounds.
 
Jonas Valanciunas added 14 points and nine rebounds to help the Raptors complete a four-game sweep against Chicago even though they only got seven points from four-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan. But Toronto shot just over 52 percent against a weak defense, sending the Bulls to their ninth loss in 11 games.
 
Bobby Portis scored 18 points for Chicago, and Lauri Markkanen had 14s. The Bulls were simply overmatched by the Eastern Conference leaders, even though they had point guard Kris Dunn back in the lineup. He had eight points and three assists in 20 minutes after missing 11 games because of a concussion.
 
The Raptors took a 61-49 lead to the locker room after outscoring the Bulls by 18 in the second quarter.
 
DeRozan ended a quiet first half with a neat 12-footer, faking David Nwaba and Justin Holiday while leaning in for the basket as time expired.
 
The Raptors continued to pull away in the third. Lowry converted a four-point play and answered a three-point play by Markkanen by nailing another 3 to make it 75-57 three minutes into the quarter.
 
The Bulls host Philadelphia on Thursday, Feb. 22.
 
>>Pacers Beat Nets
 
Victor Oladipo scored 15 of his 25 points in the second half to lead Indiana past the Brooklyn Nets 108-103 on Wednesday night.
 
Cory Joseph added 15 points and 11 assists, and Myles Turner had 11 points and 14 boards for the Pacers, who won their third straight.
Allen Crabbe scored 23 points for the Nets, who went into the break with their seventh straight loss.
 
DeMarre Carroll added 21 points and D'Angelo Russell chipped in 18 points and nine assists off the bench for Brooklyn.
 
Oladipo tried to put the Nets away by himself, scoring nine straight points to give the Pacers a 67-61 advantage midway through the third quarter before Brooklyn answered to take a 79-73 lead heading into the final period.
 
The Nets led 95-93 after Crabbe's 3-pointer with 4:09 remaining in the fourth quarter, but their offense sputtered, missing eight shots during a four-minute stretch.
 
The Pacers, who entered the day sixth in the Eastern Conference playoff race, went on a 6-0 run to take a 99-95 lead after Turner's free throws with 2:17 left in regulation.
 
The Nets got within two points with 1:04 to go after Spencer Dinwiddie hit a pair of free throws, but Indiana scored five straight points, capped with 26 seconds left.
 
The Pacers host the Atlanta Hawks on Feb. 23.

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