During the first half, the Raptors piled up a 23-point lead, carried by DeMar DeRozan’s awakening in the first quarter then stretched open by a bench rotation that included starting point guard Kyle Lowry. Game two saw the Toronto Raptors bounced back from an-embarrassing-home loss to the Indiana Pacers in a dominant fashion.
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It was all there for the Pacers Thursday night.
Indiana Pacers forward Paul George has been the best player on the court in the first-round series against the Toronto Raptors. It’s going to be tough. “This sucks. We didn’t protect home court”. DeRozan hit for 4-6 from the free throw line in the first quarter, matching in 12 minutes of action what he contributed from the stripe in 67 previous first round minutes against these Pacers. Lowry and DeRozan both scored 21 points but combined to shoot 15 of 40, bringing their series total to 32-of-103 (.311). That win snapped a seven-game postseason losing streak for Toronto as they try to overcome years of playoffs woes and win a seven-game series for the first time.
“Scorers don’t forget how to score”, Raptors coach Dwane Casey said the other day. According to SportVU, a greater percentage of George’s shots (13 of 19) were contested than were in Game 1 (13 of 22) or Game 2 (six of 15). Things coming together for IN in a confident win wouldn’t be any more of a surprise than the Pacers flaming out for a third straight game. “I don’t think we played to our identity the way we can”.
Indiana, which was led by Paul George with 25 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, spent the rest of the game futilely playing catch-up. The Pacers were thoroughly outplayed in their 101-85 loss to the Raptors in Game 3. He went through the concussion protocol after getting knocked down in the first half Monday and complaining of a headache. And Cory Joseph showed his championship poise by making timely plays and simply being a wizard with his ball handling skills.
“The angle of our screens, the type of screens we were setting for him, hopefully loosened him up a bit”, Casey said.
“Usually you walk away from (a split) feeling good about it but I’m kind of upset… because a lot of stuff that we gave up was preventable”, George said. The Pacers once again played with a perplexing all-bench lineup, which the Raptors predictably obliterated. While they did not post huge offensive numbers, the team outrebounded IN by 11 boards while also outshooting them.
Neither the Pacers nor their fans were pleased with the way the game was officiated.
Casey, who was born in Indy, had his own cheering section in town. They’ll be gunning to throw Valanciunas off his game. Toronto leads the series 2-1.
This team has come a very long way in a fairly short time, and things are looking very bright in Toronto, for at least one of their major sports franchises.
Dirk Nowitzki played despite a right knee bruise and scored 16 points but the Mavericks let Oklahoma City dictate the pace and couldn’t keep up, never leading while missing 10 of their first 12 shots from 3-point range (see full recap).
Pacers: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver attended the game.
“That’s what the playoffs are all about”, George said. The Pacers also lost that night, to the Chicago Bulls….
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The Raptors, who have played well on the road all season and are the league-leaders for wins in IN going back to 2012, looked completely at ease against a backdrop of gold, courtesy of a T-shirt giveaway at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
