After a frustrating game 1 that saw him record 12 points and a franchise-best 19 rebounds in 21 minutes before fouling out, Valanciunas stayed out of foul trouble and played almost 31 minutes in Monday’s win to put up another double-double. “I remember back in the ’90s, when the Spurs were trying to get there, there was pressure”. They’d probably rather not play Jordan Hill just to swing the rebounding edge back their way, Ian Mahinmi is day-to-day with a back sprain, and Lavoy Allen has been fairly ineffective. The Raptors refused to succumb to the same script as Saturday, pushing their lead from single digits back to 18 points to open the fourth quarter on their way to a 98-87 win, the team’s first playoff victory since Game 5 against the Brooklyn Nets in 2014.
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Paul George and the Pacers probably didn’t expect to go into Game 3 with Jonas Valanciunas atop their scouting report, but if he didn’t have their attention already he’s certainly earned it now.
“It feels good that we’re 1-1, putting ourselves in a great position to turn things around”, Patrick Patterson said.
DeRozan was not frustrated by his performance or the lack of minutes in the fourth quarter.
“I’m just doing my stuff, you know, I’m going out there and battling”, Valanciunas said at his post-game presser. “The hard part is to see the growth in this program, where we’ve come, where we’re going, how we’re getting there. “(Saturday) night, we literally did not play well. “That’s everything that we can control and we didn’t do so tonight”. Coming off a Game 1 victory in which he and his team held Kyle Lowry and DeRozan DeRozan in check as planned, George brushed off a question about the impact of Valanciunas, who had dominated the glass in the series opener. The conservative defensive scheme and deliberate, grinding offense meant to complement it have both been abandoned. He’s 7-feet of nasty, an undeniable force who is going to make the Pacers re-think how they’re going to approach him. They’ve lost four of their past five Game 2s after winning the first game, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. Do we bring help?
Meanwhile, Valanciunas has averaged team-highs of 17.5 points and 17.0 rebounds per game.
“Let’s not get too excited”.
The Pacers made it interesting in the second quarter, though, which prompted Raptors fans to fire up their go-to target – blaming the refs.
Someone needs to step up if the Pacers want to win this series. As we wrote in our three keys to game two, he gives the Raptors a major advantage in the middle, and they made sure to exploit this.
Valanciunas set the tone, helping the Raptors get off to a quick lead that, despite a couple IN runs, they never relinquished. DeRozan entered the game a career 38 percent shooter in the postseason, and continues to search for a way to elevate his play when the lights shine the brightest.
But the Indiana Pacers forward can’t do it by himself. But he’s been their third guy. “I played my type of game – aggressive, assertive, downhill – and we got the win”. We’ve got to figure it out. Tightness? Max players don’t get tight in the playoffs.
Consecutive 3-pointers by Terrence Ross gave Toronto a 40-22 lead with 8:00 left in the second quarter.
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The Toronto Raptors are looking to get even in their first round series against the Indiana Pacers on Monday. The bench squad was also terrific when it came to drawing fouls. “A bunch of teams, including DeRozan’s hometown Lakers, are prepared to offer him a max deal starting $25 million per season, and the Raptors know they will have to spend big to keep him”, wrote Lowe.
