Game 7 tips at 8 PM ET and will be televised on TNT.
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In ATS trends, the Pacers are 7-2 ATS in their last nine games overall and 6-2 ATS in their last eight Conference Quarterfinals games, while the Raptors are 5-1 ATS in their last six games following a loss and 5-2 ATS in their last seven home games.
George was held scoreless from the field for almost 23 minutes on Friday, netting his first bucket on a catch-and-shoot three just 1:06 before halftime.
Toronto only won the game by three points, had IN even had a poor fourth quarter they would have won.
Ian Mahinmi reached double figures with 12 points, helping the Pacers stay in the game early, but the real hero of the game was Rodney Stuckey, who overcame one of the all-time worst playoff games in Game 5 to help step on the throats of the Raptors late in the game. “We are hitting our stride at the right time and playing our best basketball”, Pacers head coach Frank Vogel said after the team’s win Friday night.
DeMar DeRozan put on a show, coming up with 34 points and shooting 10 of 22 from the field, with an added 12 of 13 from the free throw line. Did they allow themselves to think about the significance of finally winning a playoff series, the one thing on the resume that has eluded a team that set franchise records in the regular season for three straight years? Things remained at a steady pace up until the Pacers outscored the Raptors 61-39 in the second-half, helping to secure the victory for the team. And we shouldn’t pretend that that’s going to get the job done.
But to listen to DeRozan speak on Saturday, the first-round series tied 3-3, the Pacers stifling him like no one else has in the post-season and yet another heartbreaking first-round exit a possibility, he seemed to actually be in a good place. “That is what it came down to in the fourth quarter”. Even if they’ve already convinced people they’re still not ready for the big stage, a Game 7 win will be a sigh of relief for this group and this city. With such a devastating loss behind them, it’s hard not to question what’s going wrong for the Pacers. “The Pacers have to beat the Raptors”.
Paul George took on the hefty minutes as promised, and while he acted as the spark he managed just four points in the quarter. Though the Pacer All-Star tried, it was the dashing duo of Monta Ellis and George Hill that ran their way toward 19 combined points in the period.
His play has caused headaches to the Raptors, as there just isn’t a solution to stopping George when he gets going.
The Pacers’ trouble became apparent in the second half, however, as the gap began to close on their significant lead. With more Jonas Valanciunas.
“The history, or what happened a while ago, I can’t focus on that right now”, Casey said. Yes, it’s concerning as hell that the Raptors have played maybe 15 good minutes over the last two games, that their stars are struggling, that they seem to be grasping for this ethereal toughness and fortitude that only occasionally makes itself known the last two weeks.
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“You can’t make it sound like a funeral”, DeRozan said of Sunday’s Game 7, per Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. “You’ve got to go and do what you’ve done for 82 games….” The Pacers will have to play another solid game to win the series, though can hopefully use that positive play to force Toronto into considerable self-doubt given their past postseason failures. It was the first breakout game for DeRozan in the series and Toronto will need more of them if they hope to contend.
