Indiana Pacers 100 – Raptors 90: No-Stars
By Brian Boake
The Raptors must have All-Star calibre play from Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan if they are going to prevail in this playoff series against the Indiana Pacers. They didn’t get it in Game One. Both men were missing shots from everywhere, and another series begins with a disappointing loss.
Fans of the Toronto Raptors were pumped, in the Air Canada Centre, and outside in Jurassic Park. But all the cheering, and stout defense, couldn’t make up for offensive miscues. A game tied at 74 after Terrence Ross’ only made 3-ball should have been all racked up for a Raptors victory with 8+ minutes to play. Instead, it was the visitors who stormed the gates, and deserved to win.
First Half
Lowry showed his nervousness early, missing a pair of free throws. DeRozan had several clean looks in the mid-range, and clanked them all. This was a foreshadowing of the entire game.
What kept the Raptors in the game was the aggressive yet calm play of Jonas Valanciunas. He pulled down seemingly every miss on either board, and was scoring efficiently. His calmness helped him several times to make the right shooting decision under duress. JV’s play was too much for starting centre Ian Mahinmi, who quickly sat down with 3 fouls.
Oddly enough, Mahinmi’s failure gave rookie Myles Turner his chance, and he took full advantage. Turner blocked 5 shots, and was plus_15.
Paul George of the Pacers wasn’t getting much room to do his scoring, and mostly missed when he did release the ball. This worm would turn later.
Cory Joseph came off the bench to lead his team in scoring with 10, making all 4 shots he tried. With all due respect, CoJo as leading scorer can’t happen if the Raptors are going to have any chance.
Second Half
Paul George, who had been under a blanket, re-emerged with a vengeance. He didn’t need teammates, scoring 17 in Q3, including all three 3-balls he put up.
The Raptors continued to turn over the ball, committing 4 more, including a lazy pass by CoJo which George intercepted and converted into a breakaway slam. Lowry was to finish with 6 turnovers, one fewer than he had in assists, and therefore a dreadful ratio.
Our opportunities in crunch time were severely constrained by JV’s foul trouble. Several of the early calls were dubious, though the foul-out was probably legitimate. Bismack Biyombo did his best, but he’s not now or ever the threat JV is. When the Raptors are protecting a lead, he’s an asset but not in a come from behind situation.
The Raptors stalled out at 82 points, and Indiana scored 9 straight to take an 11-point stranglehold. Disappointed fans started leaving in droves.
In Sum…
If we declare JV a member of the Raptors’ Big 3, we find our most important players combined for 12 of 46 shooting. Paul George had 12 buckets on his own, and needed only 22 shots. Worse, our top players made one 3-ball in 10 tries; George was 4 of 5. Our team missed 12 free throws.
The sad part is how much a solid defensive effort, except on George, was wasted. The Raptors dominated the boards by a 52-38 margin, but there weren’t enough defensive rebounds to pull down. Indiana was 11 of 21 from distance.
The Raptors have now lost their past seven playoff games dating back to the defeat by Brooklyn three seasons ago. We can merely hope that the dreadful shooting which doomed Toronto’s chances was a one-time thing, and that our guys will look like themselves on Monday night.