Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 23 points against his former team, and Indiana beat the Toronto Raptors 127-125 on Wednesday night.

Siakam, traded from Toronto to Indiana last month, said he felt good after picking up the victory in his first trip back north of the border.

"You don't want to come here and lose," Siakam said. "That was a thing on my mind. Everyone was telling me, 'I'm so happy to see you,' but in my head I was like, 'I've got to get a win, man. I can't lose this game.' Definitely feels good to get a win."

Tyrese Haliburton added 21 points and 12 assists, Isaiah Jackson had 15 points and 11 rebounds, Obi Toppin scored 15 and Andrew Nembhard had 14 as the Pacers bounced back from Monday's loss at Charlotte.

Scottie Barnes had 29 points and 12 rebounds, and Jakob Poeltl added 19 points and 11 boards for the Raptors. Barnes finished with eight assists, narrowly missing a triple-double.

The Raptors set season highs with 84 points in the paint and 40 fast-break points.

Toronto fans opened a set of four straight home games last Friday by welcoming former Raptors guard Fred VanVleet back as Houston visited. They closed it on Valentine's Day in an emotional reunion with Siakam, who was honored with a video tribute during pregame introductions. Raptors players applauded and the crowd gave Siakam a standing ovation.

"It definitely means a lot," Siakam said. "I'm humbled. I couldn't really imagine that kind of reception. Thank you. Thanks to everyone."

The two-time All-Star arrived at his postgame news conference dressed in a special Valentine's Day outfit of pink pants, a pink jacket and a pink winter hat.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

SAN FRANCISCO -- It was deja vu for the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night as they hosted the LA Clippers.

After putting together three good quarters, they started to slip. Their defense, which had been far improved over the past several weeks, broke down. The shots they were sinking earlier couldn't find the hoop. Their 15-point lead began to dwindle.

The Warriors' 130-125 loss was their sixth defeat after leading by at least 15 points -- only the San Antonio Spurs have lost more such games. The Warriors blew a 22-point lead to these same Clippers earlier this season.

It had been some time since the Warriors crumbled in a game like this. Heading into Wednesday, Golden State had won eight of its past 11 games and put together a five-game win streak. The Warriors believed they had turned a corner and built some momentum.

But their loss to LA was a reminder of how much more they need to do.

"We're very average," Warriors guard Stephen Curry said. "Very average doesn't get it done in this league. We need to make a run, hopefully, we bounce back tomorrow and after the All-Star break hit a stride where we win every game [at home] and steal a few on the road.

"We've been very average so far, so we have to regain that home-court fear that we have grown accustomed to in the past."

The Warriors led 103-94 when Clippers coach Tyronn Lue was ejected with 9:36 left in the fourth quarter after picking up his second technical foul. After that, LA went on a 36-22 run to close the game, scoring 44 points in the fourth. It's the second-most points LA has scored in any quarter this season and tied for the second-most points the Warriors have allowed in the final period under coach Steve Kerr.

"They're a really good team that has some confidence, and we're still trying to prove that we're that type of team," Curry said.

Kerr said he was confident this game was a one-off rather than a relapse -- that this won't become a habit as it was so often earlier in the season. The hope is that the Warriors won't have to keep adding to their list of candidates for "worst loss of the year," which already has multiple contenders.

Golden State has one more game before the All-Star break, a matchup in Salt Lake City that was rescheduled following the death of assistant coach Dejan Milojevic.

The Warriors hoped to enter the break on a continued hot streak, climbing their way higher into the play-in picture. Instead, they now need Thursday's game to be a palate cleanser.

"Either way, how tonight would have gone, we would say the same thing about tomorrow -- we're trying to keep the streak going and not have any missteps," Curry said. "Now, it's the same mission but a different mindset of bounding back and just feeling good going into a six-day break. It's a very, very, very, very important game, to say the least."

SALT LAKE CITY -- The Los Angeles Lakers' 138-122 win over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday was not only the team's sixth win in its past seven games heading into the NBA All-Star break, but it represented a declaration of identity, according to Anthony Davis.

"[It's] not what we can be, but it's who we are," Davis said after putting up 37 points and 15 rebounds against the Jazz. "We're starting to establish that we're going to be a fast-paced team, a team that likes to get into the paint, get to the line. But also be tenacious on the defensive end. Creating that identity for what we have to be moving forward.

"We can't be coming back from All-Star and [wonder], 'All right, what type of team are we?' This is what we have to be. This is who we are. And we've got to make sure how we're playing as of late, the past two, three, four weeks, keeping that identity and carrying it over into post All-Star."

Wednesday's win came with LeBron James out of the lineup. The 21-year veteran stayed back in L.A. to rest his sore left ankle, with the Lakers playing the second night of a back-to-back.

Although the Lakers are still No. 9 in the West, their recent uptick has improved their record to 30-26 -- the first time they have been four games above .500 since mid-December, shortly after their in-season tournament championship.

While Davis posted team highs in points and rebounds, the Lakers' effort was anchored by a career-high 36 points by Rui Hachimura, who shot an efficient 13-for-19 from the field.

Hachimura, who was a standout for the Lakers during their postseason run to the Western Conference finals last spring, had yet to find a consistent groove this season. His presence was missing so much that last week, after he went just 1-for-5 in a loss to the Denver Nuggets, Davis said the team confronted him, imploring him to be more assertive.

"We need Rui to be great in order for us to be great," Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. "He's one of the main pieces for us, and when he's playing like that, along with all of the other weapons we have, we're a pretty hard to team beat."

Hachimura acknowledged his importance in the Lakers' puzzle.

"I want to be the X factor for the team, either coming off the bench or starting, whatever that is, offensively, defensively, everything," Hachimura said. "Just got to be aggressive, use my size, whatever it takes to win."

L.A. broke open the game with a 12-0 run late in the third quarter, and it was a top-to-bottom effort, with Austin Reaves finishing with 22 points, 7 assists and 3 steals and D'Angelo Russell totaling 11 points, a career-high 17 assists and 9 rebounds.

Ham called it a "quality of life win," allowing his team to head into a weeklong break on a high note before coming back together for the final 26 games to make a playoff push.

"Rui and D-Lo, yeah, they're great players," Reaves said. "And I'll be happy to see them in about seven days."

BOSTON -- Payton Pritchard scored 28 points and the NBA-leading Boston Celtics routed the Brooklyn Nets 136-86 on Wednesday night to become just the third team in league history to post multiple 50-point wins in a season.

The victory also was Joe Mazzulla's 100th as head coach.

Derrick White finished with 27 points, and Jayson Tatum added 20 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds for the Celtics, who beat the Nets on back-to-back nights. It was the final game for both teams prior to the All-Star break.

"You can't operate by feeling, so regardless if we lost tonight and won five out of six or six out of six, you have a tendency to relax, you have a tendency to put it in cruise control," Mazzulla said. "So winning is just as dangerous as losing if you don't handle it the right way."

Boston will enter the break with an NBA-best 43-12 record. The Celtics went 57-25 in Mazzulla's first year as coach last season.

"I told the guys, it's something to be proud of, something to be grateful for, and it's just a testament to the people that you have around you," Mazzulla said of reaching 100 wins. "In a business where individual success is highly talked about on a nightly basis, the box scores and stuff like that, to have a group of people you can share in your success with is important."

The Celtics beat the Indiana Pacers by 51 points on Nov. 1. Boston joined the 1992-93 Sacramento Kings and the 1978-79 Milwaukee Bucks as the only teams with multiple wins by at least 50 points in a season.

It was the fifth 50-point win in team history.

Kristaps Porzingis thinks Mazzulla doesn't always get credit, perhaps because it's just his second season as a coach. But he thinks he should.

"He's very underrated as a coach. And different. I think people really don't see who he is and how he coaches," Porzingis said. "He deserves a lot of credit."

Porzingis left the game in the first half with a sprained ankle and didn't return. But he said he was available in the second half, but was held out with the game in hand.

Trendon Watford had 15 points for the Nets, who have lost five of their past six. They trailed by as many as 56 points in the fourth quarter.

The Celtics played without All-Star Jaylen Brown (bruised right shoulder) and Al Horford (sprained big toe), but they controlled the game throughout, quickly jumping to a double-digit lead and building a 37-point cushion in the second quarter.

It grew to 46 points in the third.

Boston's starters sat the entire final period.

The Nets did see a player return from injury for the second straight night, this time getting back Cam Johnson following his four-game absence with a strained adductor muscle. He came off the bench, entering for the first time late in the first quarter. He played 18 minutes and finished with four points on 1-of-5 shooting.

Johnson's presence wasn't nearly enough to slow down a Boston team that shot more than 64% in the opening period and connected on 22 of 44 3-pointers for the game.

"It's a great reminder...that we have work to do," Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said. "We have to be OK doing the work. But I do believe this team can do the work. So use this as a reminder that we got our tails kicked tonight and that after the break it won't be any easier. But we have to up for the challenge."

Boston's 68-32 halftime advantage was its largest since Jan. 13, 2010, when it had a 36-point edge over the New Jersey Nets. Brooklyn's 34 points Wednesday marked a season low in the first half.

UP NEXT

Nets: At Raptors on Feb. 22.

Celtics: At Bulls on Feb 22.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

SAN FRANCISCO -- LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard's left adductor strain isn't expected to be "too serious," according to Clippers coach Ty Lue, but there is still uncertainty surrounding the six-time All-Star's status for this year's All-Star game.

Leonard played through the injury on Monday against the Minnesota Timberwolves, scoring 18 points in 30 minutes. He is sitting out Wednesday night's game against the Golden State Warriors.

"I don't think it's that serious," Lue said before Wednesday's game. "He played through it last game, was experiencing some soreness in the hip, so when the game got out of reach we didn't bring him back in the fourth quarter to be smart about it."

Even if he is unable to play in the All-Star game, Leonard is still expected to go to Indianapolis for the weekend, a league source told ESPN.

PHOENIX -- Phoenix Suns center Drew Eubanks said Detroit Pistons center Isaiah Stewart punched him Wednesday at the arena hours before the teams were due to play each other.

Eubanks told reporters before the game that the altercation happened as he was coming into the arena. He said an argument started and they were chest-to-chest before Stewart threw a punch.

Security intervened and Eubanks said he was fine for the game.

"The attack on Drew Eubanks was unprovoked, and acts of violence such as this are unacceptable," the Suns said in a statement. "We unequivocally support Drew, and will continue to work with local law enforcement and the NBA"

The Pistons had no comment.

Stewart was already listed as out for the game with a sprained left ankle. He missed the Pistons' previous seven games with the injury.

Stewart was involved in an on-court altercation with the Lakers' LeBron James in 2021 that saw Stewart suspended for two games and James for one.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Los Angels Angels started spring training without Shohei Ohtani for the first time since 2017 and with a new manager in Ron Washington.

Ohtani, the unprecedented two-way star, left for a record $700 million, 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Washington took over after Phil Nevin was fired, and Washington hopes to get the Angels back into the playoffs for the first time since 2014.

"I'm excited. I wouldn't want to be anyplace else on the face of this earth because we have an opportunity to do something very special here," Washington said Wednesday as the Angels pitchers and catchers began workouts. "I'm just trying to get that mindset going in that direction."

Washington, at 71, is the oldest current big league manager and is running a team for the first time since leading the Texas Rangers from 2007-14. A key for the Angels will be the health of Mike Trout, the three-time AL MVP who was limited to 82 games last year. Trout played just one game since fracturing the hamate bone in his left hand on July 3, and the 32-year-old finished with a .263 average, 18 homers and 44 RBI.

Washington addressed players on the first day.

"The main message I sent to them was work ethic, care about each other and develop a culture and structure. You must be a team to be successful," Washington said he told players. "You can't have people going in different directions. That's the main thing."

"I want Mike Trout to be Mike Trout. I want him to lead. I want the rest of the guys to grow," Washington added.

Even if Ohtani had stayed, the Angels wouldn't have had him in the rotation this season -- Ohtani won't pitch until 2025 following elbow surgery.

Left-handers Patrick Sandoval, Reid Detmers and Tyler Anderson return to the rotation along with right-hander Griffin Canning.

Closer Carlos Estevez remains after saving 31 games in 35 chances for a team that went 73-89 for the second straight year.

"I love the enthusiasm around this group," Estévez said. "I like the vibe, the energy."

Having Washington around helps.

"We can get a lot out of our younger players," Estévez said. "It's cool to see a legend taking care of this group. You can see with the knowledge he has, and the way he likes the game to be played, it's going to help with their confidence."

Nolan Schanuel debuted on Aug. 18 and hit .275 with one homer, six RBI and a .402 on-base percentage. He was the first player to reach the major leagues from last year's draft, the 11th player picked overall, and hit leadoff in all 28 starts.

"Right now, he is our first baseman," Washington said. "We have a lot of hope for him, I like his work ethic."

Los Angeles is counting on youngsters like Schanuel, who turned 22 on Wednesday, and 23-year-old shortstop Zach Neto, the Angels' first-round pick in 2022.

The Angels didn't make any large offseason acquisitions, instead bringing in veterans such as Aaron Hicks, Miguel Sanó and Hunter Dozier.

Dozier, 32, is playing outside the Kansas City Royals' organization for the first time. He expects to continue in a utility role with time at infield and outfield corners along with designated hitter.

"It's good just to kind of get a new start," Dozier said. "I'm ready for anything."

One holdover from his Kansas City days is his uniform number -- 17 -- which just happens to be the number left behind by Ohtani. No other significance to it, he said.

"I was 17 with the Royals for six years," Dozier said.

LOS ANGELES -- Tiger Woods said he isn't opposed to the Public Investment Fund being an investor in the PGA Tour, and that negotiations with officials from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund are ongoing.

"Ultimately, we would like to have PIF be a part of our tour and a part of our product," Woods said Wednesday during a news conference ahead of The Genesis at Riviera Country Club. "Financially, we don't right now, and the monies that they have come to the table with and what we initially had agreed to in the framework agreement, those are all the same numbers.

"Anything beyond this is going to be obviously over and above. We're in a position right now [where] hopefully we can make our product better in the short term and long term."

Beyond that, Woods, a player director on the PGA Tour's policy board, didn't offer many details on a potential deal with the PIF and what the tour's future might look like.

The PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the PIF signed a framework agreement on June 6 to combine their assets into a new for-profit entity, PGA Tour Enterprises. The framework agreement had a Dec. 31 deadline. A deal wasn't reached and the deadline was extended.

On Jan. 31, the PGA Tour reached a deal with Strategic Sports Group (SSG), a consortium of billionaire sports team owners led by John Henry and Tom Werner of Fenway Sports Group, that might inject as much as $3 billion into PGA Tour Enterprises. The new company was launched the next day.

A potential deal with the PIF might inject another $3 billion or more into PGA Tour Enterprises.

In a memo to players on Feb. 7, the PGA Tour said it would grant more than $1.5 billion in equity in PGA Tour Enterprises to past, current and future members over the next several years. Under the plan, $930 million in initial player equity grants will be awarded to 193 PGA Tour members who will fall in one of four categories.

"At the end of the day, we're trying to provide the best entertainment, and in order to do that you have to have the best players play," Woods said. "We want to involve the history and the traditions of our tour, and have the pathways, accessibility, all of the intangibles that have made the PGA Tour what it is right now and what has been, and hopefully what it will continue to be even better.

"And how do we do that? That's the whole idea of why we have a group like SSG to provide us with information and help and try to create the best tour we could possibly have."

SSG's investors include Mark Attanasio (Milwaukee Brewers), Arthur Blank (Atlanta Falcons), Wyc Grousbeck (Boston Celtics) and Steve Cohen (New York Mets), among others.

"The consortium that they have at SSG, the partners that they have that have come together to be a part of this group, is quite remarkable, to be honest with you, in the sports industry," Woods said. "They're unbelievable leaders. At the time that we need great leadership going forward, I think this elicits that -- the amazing brains of ideas that can make this tour better, and we're looking forward to that."

When asked about possible pathways back to the PGA Tour for players who jumped to the LIV Golf League the past couple of years, Woods described it as an ongoing process.

"We're looking into all the different models for pathways back," Woods said. "What that looks like, what the impact is for the players who have stayed and who have not left, and how we make our product better going forward, there is no answer to that right now.

"We're looking at varying degrees of ideas, and what that looks like in the short term, we don't know. We don't even know in the longer term what that looks like. Trust me, there's daily, weekly emails and talks about this and what this looks like for our tour going forward."

Woods said the PIF's endgame has changed during more than eight months of negotiations since a framework agreement was signed June 6.

"From what their representatives have discussed with us, that changes and that evolves from a few months ago to what it is currently now," Woods said.

Asked whether that's a good or bad development, Woods replied, "I don't know if it's good or bad. It's an ongoing, fluid process."

Woods, 48, will be making his first start in an official PGA Tour event since he pulled out of the weather-delayed third round of the Masters in April. He was limping badly in the season's first major because of severe pain in his right foot and ankle.

The 15-time major winner underwent fusion surgery on April 19 to address post-traumatic arthritis he suffered in the car wreck. The procedure sidelined him for nearly eight months.

"How the body feels from day to day and the grind of trying to practice and get ready for an event, just the overall just aging process of it all, that has been the trick of it and been the challenge of it," Woods said. "Since then I've had my ankle fused, so that's different.

"[I'm still] trying to get used to the new feels of the body. That's always the challenge. And the challenges of trying to get tour-ready, that's what we've been trying to do the last couple weeks, trying be sure I'm physically fit and ready to play this event."

ROSEMONT, Ill. -- As the College Football Playoff management committee continues discussions about the future of the sport's postseason, Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti wants to ensure deeper conferences have access points that maximize the stretch run of the regular season.

In a wide-ranging interview Wednesday with ESPN, Petitti said he is focused on ensuring the Big Ten, which will increase to 18 members with four West Coast additions this summer, has November schedules packed with games that carry CFP implications, like many of the professional leagues do.

"We've got some work to do to figure out what that [future model] is, because obviously, it has real impact on your regular season," Petitti told ESPN. "You want to make sure that your teams have the ability to have a breakout season and qualify. And we also have to be realistic about what should get you access, in terms of number of wins. Look, we want meaningful games late in the season.

"We want fans to think that you know a game in the second week of November, even if you've already lost two or three games, still has a lot of value. That's the goal."

Washington State president Kirk Schulz, who serves on the CFP board, told ESPN that a vote on a model for the 2024 season -- the setup would feature the five highest-ranked conference champions and the next seven highest-ranked teams -- was likely Tuesday. Petitti and the other commissioners, who make up the management committee, are set to meet Wednesday in Dallas.

The commissioners are expected to examine access and other topics as they discuss the CFP's future contract.

"When you're as deep as we are, we've got to do things to make sure that we have the access to the postseason that we think we deserve and has to be earned on the field," Petitti said. "I'm a big believer in that, and that helps your regular season. More teams playing more meaningful games later in the season, I think we still can do more there."

Earlier this month, the Big Ten and SEC announced a joint advisory group to address major topics and challenges around the college sports landscape. After working with the SEC as a TV executive earlier in his career, Petitti said a more formal group made sense. Petitti visited the SEC office in Alabama shortly after being hired at the Big Ten, and has maintained a consistent dialogue with SEC commissioner Greg Sankey.

The advisory group will include presidents and chancellors, as well as athletic directors from the two richest and most powerful conferences.

"Both of us looking at the depth of things that were changing so quickly, how do we increase our pace of our thinking, of our strategy, to meet these challenges?" Petitti said. "We have [athletic director] groups that are really experienced, that work well together, so it became a very natural thing."

Petitti said the partnership is not intended to create an "isolation chamber" and that the two leagues are hoping to produce initiatives that benefit the entire college sports "ecosystem."

"I don't believe it puts us in an adversarial position with anybody else," he said. "It's just, we got to find some solutions here."

Petitti called his first football season as Big Ten commissioner "remarkable," noting the national championship won by Michigan, the first Big Ten team to earn a title since Ohio State in 2014. The Big Ten's decision to impose in-season discipline for Michigan -- coach Jim Harbaugh was suspended for the team's final three regular-season games -- amid the NCAA's investigation into illegal off-campus scouting and signal stealing drew significant criticism for Petitti. Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel, in a piercing statement following the suspension, called the Big Ten's actions during an NCAA investigation "completely unethical" and "an assault on the rights of everyone."

Petitti said he and Manuel have moved past the friction and even sat next to each other at a dinner the night before Michigan played Alabama in the CFP semifinal at the Rose Bowl. Petitti called Manuel "one of the leaders in our room."

"People sometimes misconstrue, these are never personal things, this is not personal," Petitti said. "This is about doing what's right for the conference, what's right for our institutions. It doesn't mean everybody's going to agree with decisions that come from the league office, but that's the job.

"At the end of the day, it's about doing what you think is right in the process. That's what we did, and there's reaction to that, and we just worked our way through it."