Aside from some huge plays down the stretch by Scottie Barnes (who gave a huge boost with his made free-throws), and of course, the closing dagger by clutch savior Brandon Ingram; the Raptors-Pacers contest on November 26 was definitely a lot tighter of an affair than it probably should've been. But it's the Raptors who were riding an eight-game winning streak going in, while the Pacers came into the head-to-head matchup near the very bottom of the East standings (now the 15th seed in the conference at the time of writing).
No discrediting Indiana's ability to keep the game within arm's reach — coach Darko Rajakovic would be sure to give them props post-game — but it's clear that this Raptors squad has a rejuvenated spirit. Not only does it distinguish them from recent iterations, but their fighting spirit and ability to adapt on the fly have arguably put them a cut above their NBA contemporaries.
Like I mentioned at the beginning, there were some great bright spots for Toronto, but the game was far from pretty when you look at the final sheets. Shooting 38.9 percent from the field as a team is far from ideal, and it's even worse when you consider the Raptors also struggled to translate the three-ball, going 5-for-26 in that regard.
So when the team's shooting isn't quite churning out the efficient results you'd hope for, how did the Raptors effectively adapt to the situation to turn the tide? I mean, it's not every day we see Toronto only put up 97 points total, especially considering this is a team that averages 119.2 points per contest so far this season. Lead Raptors guard Immanuel Quickley was asked about it in his post-game media availability, where he said the following (YouTube link here):
Raptors' quick adjustments amid adversity define their NBA upper hand
"You got to win in different ways. You got to win when you don't shoot well. You got to win sometimes when you turn the ball over. You got to win ugly sometimes. So many games, 82 games in a season. You're not going to always shoot the ball well, but you can always play defense, can always bring energy, effort, and that's what we did tonight."Immanuel Quickley, Nov 26, 2025
Coach Rajakovic would double down with an answer to a similar question, stating:
"It's resiliency when things are not going our way, to stick together, to continue finding ways. We're shooting from the field, 38 percent, and only 19 percent from the three-point line, and to still win the game, in the NBA — it's really, really hard. I thought Indiana played really good game [sic] of basketball tonight as well. "Darko Rajakovic
The Raptors are proving they are tough in every facet. It’s not picture-perfect by any means — there’s always room for improvement — but moments like this Indiana win demonstrate to the league that they can adapt even when the odds seem stacked against them, projecting an inevitable loss. Much like coach Rajakovic said, it's definitely a feather in the cap when your team can grind out a gritty, gutsy win — and not every team in the NBA can boast the ability to step up in those moments.