Pacers vs. Raptors to Restart After Speaker Catches Fire in Scotiabank Arena
Saturday's game between the Indiana Pacers and Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena has been suspended due to a fire in the building.
Per Toronto Police Operations on Twitter, police were called to the arena after receiving reports of a speaker catching fire.
Per Blake Murphy of Sportsnet 590 The Fan, the fire chief requested the arena be evacuated even though there is "no threat to public safety."
The Raptors were leading the Pacers 66-38 with 4:05 remaining in the second quarter before play was suspended.
Per Raptors radio play-by-play announcer Eric Smith, the game is going to resume with no fans in the stands after the air quality was cleared by the fire department:
This marks the first regular-season game to be suspended because of a fire in the arena. There was a preseason game in October between the Milwaukee Bucks and Memphis Grizzlies at FedEx Forum that was called after the third quarter when a fire alarm inadvertently went off.
Saturday's game has significant playoff implications for the Raptors. They entered the day with a 41-32 record, tied with the Cleveland Cavaliers for sixth in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland has the tiebreaker after winning three of four head-to-head meetings between the teams.
The Raptors would host the Brooklyn Nets in the play-in tournament if the season ended today. They still have eight games remaining, not including this matchup with the Pacers.
Indiana (25-49) lost back-to-back games entering Saturday night. It currently sits in 13th place in the Eastern Conference, ahead of only the Detroit Pistons (20-54) and Orlando Magic (20-54).
