Pacers force Game 7 against Raptors

Indiana Pacers' Paul George (13) is defended by Toronto Raptors' DeMarre Carroll (5) during the first half of Game 6 of an NBA first-round playoff basketball series Friday, April 29, 2016, in Indianapolis.
Indiana Pacers' Paul George (13) is defended by Toronto Raptors' DeMarre Carroll (5) during the first half of Game 6 of an NBA first-round playoff basketball series Friday, April 29, 2016, in Indianapolis.

INDIANAPOLIS-Paul George scored 21 points, Myles Turner added 15 and the Indiana Pacers beat the Toronto Raptors 101-83 on Friday night to force a Game 7 of their series.

That will be played Sunday in Toronto, and the winner will advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Indiana scored 18 straight points in the second half to pull away from the second-seeded Raptors, who haven't won a postseason series since the first round in 2001.

DeMarre Carroll and Cory Joseph each had 15 points for the Raptors.

Kyle Lowry (4 for 14) and DeMar DeRozan (3 for 13) struggled again, and now the Raptors will head home and hear again about their troubled playoff problems: a Game 7 loss at home to Brooklyn in 2014, Washington's four-game sweep last season and no series wins in a seven-game series. And there 15-year victory drought is the longest active streak in the league.

Indiana trailed by as much as 12 early, never led until early in the third quarter and had to fend off a late third-quarter charge from the Raptors before blowing it open in the fourth.

After Toronto cut the deficit to 65-64, Indiana responded by scoring the last six points of the third and the first 12 of the fourth to take an 83-64 lead.

The Raptors never recovered.

For Indiana, it was a dramatic turnabout.

Three days after blowing a 13-point, fourth-quarter lead, they came out flat. The Pacers struggled to make baskets, struggled to defend and played catch-up the entire first half after Toronto took an 18-6 lead just 6 minutes into the game.

But once the Pacers got righted, they took control and pulled away.

Indiana rebounded from a 44-40 halftime deficit with a 10-2 run to take its first lead, 49-48 on Ian Mahinmi's tip-in with 9:33 left. They extended the lead to 63-55 before Toronto charged back to get within 65-64 in the final two minutes of the quarter.

Indiana scored the next 18 points to seal it.

GOLDEN CROWD

Indiana handed out gold T-shirts to fans at the game and it caused a bit of a stir because the wording on the shirts read: United State of Basketball, We The Gold. It was a twist on Toronto's motto-We The North. Raptors coach Dwane Casey didn't seem to mind that Indiana stole the idea. "I know that they have a great home court. You know you're in Pacers territory because of all the gold shirts," he said. "But what happens between the lines for 48 minutes is what I'm concerned about."

TIP-INS

Raptors: The Raptors wound up getting outrebounded 44-40 after dominating the post in the first half. ... Jonas Valanciunas had 14 points, Lowry had 10 and DeRozan finished with eight. ... Bismack Biyombo grabbed 10 rebounds. ... Toronto gave up 20 points on 17 turnovers. ... The last time the Raptors led a series 3-2 was in 2014 against Brooklyn. But the Nets won 97-83 on their home court before clinching the series with a 104-103 victory in Game 7 at Toronto.

Pacers: Turner blocked four shots, giving him 19 in the series to break Antonio Davis' previous franchise rookie record in a six-game series. ... Indiana started the second half by making five of its first seven shots. ... Actor-comedian Mike Epps, who lives in Indy, attended the game. ... The Pacers have won four straight elimination games on their home court.

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