“After the first half I watched film in the back”, George said.
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“To be out of the playoffs past year and not being able to help my team get there, that was probably the biggest burden on me immediately after I got hurt, I’m not going to be able to get this group to the playoffs”, George said. “Honestly, I’m not concerned with what happened with them in the past”, said coach Frank Vogel.
The loss makes it three straight playoff game one losses for the Raptors, who are still looking for their first playoff series win since the 2000-2001 season.
As George’s last warm up shot from the half court went in, he ran off the court to the boos of a few Raptor fans who came early in the arena. Instead, Toronto looked just as fragile as they did two years ago when they lost the playoff opener to the Nets. Moreover, they just shot 10 percent from three-point range which is one of their most lethal weapons all season long.
Solomon Hill scored 13 points while George Hill and Evan Turner each had 10 for the Pacers. “We’re hoping that we’ve settled on something that can be successful for us in the playoffs”, Vogel said. “Like the soft passes, not really setting solid screens”. The Raptors opened an eight-point lead when Patrick Patterson made a 3-pointer with 5:44 to play in the half. “That’s the scary part about it”, George said. “He’s great. It’s not like he’s not going to score, but I want to go out and make every shot hard for him”. A three-pointer by guard Monta Ellis made it 95-82 for IN with 1:49 remaining.
As a result, Myles Turner hauled in 10 rebounds despite admitting that the playoff atmosphere was a bit overwhelming at first. “I thought our normal rotation was a little skewed, just adding that extra player in there, but at the end it was searching for someone to stop Paul George“. Jae Crowder followed with a go-ahead 3-pointer that gave the Celtics their first lead of the game with 6:50 to play.
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The one bright spot for the Raptors in game one was Jonas Valanciunas dominating the boards on both ends of the floor.
A pair of free throws by Bismack Biyombo tied it at 76-all with 6:46 left in the fourth quarter but Rodney Stuckey answered with a 3 for Indiana.
George scored 27 points in the second half alone and took over the game down the stretch. And then came the Indiana Pacers, and especially Paul George. DeRozan had just 14 points while Lowry finished with 11.It had a lot to do with individual defense by George Hill and Paul George as Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan and Valanciunas combined to shoot 26% from the field.
Over and over, DeRozan and Lowry said they were fine, they were still confident.
Toronto signed the defensive specialist in the off-season to guard the opposing team’s toughest offensive players – much as he did for the Atlanta Hawks in last year’s playoffs, covering LeBron James in the Eastern Conference final.
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Their ears might have been burning Saturday night after the Toronto Raptors’ playoff loss.
