The Toronto Raptors are inching closer to the second round after defeating the Indiana Pacers, 102-99, in their game five match-up on Tuesday, April 26. It was the impressive outing of All-Star DeMar Derozan that sealed the win for the Raptors, as he scored 34 points on a very efficient 10-22 shooting.
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Raptors can clinch the first seven-game playoff series victory in franchise history by beating the Pacers in IN on Friday night. They were shooting 40 percent in the first four games of their playoff series against the Boston Celtics, well below the 45 percent they shot in the regular season.
This is what happens when you take a small ball lineup, throw in a monster on the glass like Biyombo, and combine that with a team like the Pacers going cold to the tune of nine points in a quarter: You get an insane rebounding performance. You get upset with your kids sometimes, you argue with your kids, you go back and forth, but at the end of the day, they’re your guys. “It’s a bump in the road but we just need to regroup and go out and take control of Game 6”.
Time and time again this series have we seen Vogel remove all of the starters with a fairly large lead, only to have the bench unit blow that same lead.
Paul George didn’t take the shot.
The only area of concern his teammates had for him was on his game-tying dunk off a steal in front of George with about four minutes remaining.
The number of turnovers that the Raptors had in the first three minutes of the game, which led to an early seven-point deficit. “So to think about it, to dwell on it, none of us really do that”.
The Pacers were down 102-99 and had the ball with 2.7 seconds left against Toronto. Biyombo had 10 points and 16 boards. “We didn’t make enough plays, that is what it came down to in the fourth quarter”, he said.
Paul George led IN with 39 points.
The number of seconds left in the fourth quarter for Indiana’s final possession, which ended when Solomon Hill hit an open three-pointer that was later ruled to be a fraction too late.
Paul George did everything he could to lead the Indiana Pacers past the Toronto Raptors in their pivotal Game 5 clash on Tuesday evening but came up three points shy of the win. “One frame shy of being a tie game and going to overtime”. “They’re looking at guys making plays and they’re feeling who is going to have them the best chance to do that”.
As for Game 6, the Raptors are approaching it as a must-win game, hoping to avoid coming out as flat as they did in Games 4 and 5.
Given the challenges each team is working through, I thought it might be interesting to look at where they, and the rest of the league, have been getting their offensive production. DeRozan had missed all eight of his 3-point attempts in the series before connecting in the second quarter.
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With their Game 3 and 4 wins in Boston, the Celtics had the momentum in the series and some of it was showing in the first quarter of Game 5. “Right now we’re just working on what we can do to get better and working on our things right now”.
