Nembhard posts double-double as Canadian trio helps Pacers defeat Raptors in Toronto

Pascal Siakam led all scorers with 31 points but the Toronto Raptors still fell to the visiting Indiana Pacers 118-114 on Wednesday night.

Fred VanVleet scored 28 and had 11 assists for the Raptors and Jakob Poeltl had 23 points and eight rebounds.

Andrew Nembhard of nearby Aurora, Ont., had a double-double for Indiana (33-40) with 25 points and 10 assists.

It was a critical win for the Pacers, who started the night two 1/2 games back of the Chicago Bulls for the final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Raptors remain ninth, half a game up on Chicago.

WATCH | Three Canadians help Pacers take down Raptors on historic night:

Oshae Brissett of Mississauga, Ont., Montreal's Bennedict Mathurin and Nembhard all started for the Pacers. It was the first time since starters were officially tracked in 1970-71 that three Canadian-born players started for a single team in an NBA game.

"Pretty cool thing for these guys to come back (to Canada)," said Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle before the game. "It also speaks to what's happening in Canada in terms of the development of very young talent. Pretty amazing."

with Bennedict Mathurin, Oshae Brissett and Andrew Nembhard in the starting lineup tonight, it marks the first time in <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBA</a> history three players from Canada will start together on the same team.