TORONTO (AP) — George Hill scored the go-ahead basket with two seconds left, completing the Indiana Pacers’ rally for a 90-88 season-opening win over the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night.
David West scored 14 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, and Paul George had 14 points and 15 rebounds for the Pacers, who trailed 84-74 with just under six minutes left. Roy Hibbert added 14 points for Indiana.
Kyle Lowry led Toronto with 21 points, and Jonas Valanciunas had 12 points and 10 rebounds in his NBA debut. Andrea Bargnani had 16 points, and José Calderon added 15 for the Raptors.
West scored on back-to-back possessions to make it 84-78 with 4:47 left and, following a layup by Lowry, converted a jump hook. Hill made a 3-pointer, and West followed with a turnaround bank shot to cut it to 86-85 with little more than two minutes remaining.
Lowry made two shots from the foul line, but West then hit an open jumper, and Hill tied it at 88 with 59 seconds left by making one of two free throws.
After DeMar DeRozan missed a layup, Hill misfired on a jumper at the other end, and the ball was knocked out of bounds. After checking the replay, the officials gave the ball to Indiana. Hill let the clock wind down before driving for the go-ahead hook shot.
The Raptors gave the ball to Bargnani, but his jump shot came up short as the game ended, silencing the capacity crowd of 19,800 and spoiling Toronto’s opening night.
Hill started for Indiana despite missing the entire preseason because of a left thumb injury and a right hip pointer. He finished with eight points, six coming in the final three minutes.
DeRozan finished with 10 points.
Indiana played without forward Danny Granger — the team’s leading scorer the past five seasons — who is sidelined indefinitely with soreness in his left knee. Granger is scheduled to seek a second opinion as he continues to recover from a knee injury sustained during last spring’s Eastern Conference semifinals. He aggravated the injury during the preseason.
George scored 10 points in the first quarter, and Hibbert had nine to help give the Pacers a 27-25 lead after the opening period. Lowry scored eight points in the second quarter, and Calderon added seven to help Toronto get into a 48-48 halftime tie.
Valanciunas had six points and six rebounds in the first six minutes of the third as Toronto used a 10-0 run to open a 64-53 lead. The Raptors carried a 71-63 lead into the fourth.
