DeRozan and Lowry power Raptors.
 | Amir Johnson, PF 23 MIN | 3-5 FG | 0-2 FT | 4 REB | 2 AST | 2 STL | 2 BLK | 1 TO | 6 PTS | -1 +/-The first half was not an example of Amir’s finest work, but he showed signs of improvement in the second half. Amir was regularly the first man down the court on offense, battled hard in the post, and even did a sufficient job of stepping out against David West. His stats certainly won’t wow anyone, but that’s the Amir that we have all come to know. Anyone who doesn’t appreciate Amir’s pick and roll defence is not paying close enough attention. |  |
 | Jonas Valanciunas, C 27 MIN | 1-2 FG | 4-4 FT | 8 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 6 PTS | +2 +/-Valanciunas’ first points of the game came with just over two minutes remaining in the first half. Jonas used a slight pump fake to get Hibbert slightly off balance, before driving from the top of the key and throwing up a nice little floater. It’s encouraging to see signs like this from Valanciunas, and I like that move a lot more when it comes from the top of the key instead of from the baseline |  |
 | Kyle Lowry, PG 34 MIN | 8-17 FG | 0-0 FT | 7 REB | 8 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 19 PTS | +6 +/-Tonight it felt like Lowry’s defence was much closer to where we all expect it to be. Simply put, he hasn’t been great on the defensive side of the ball over the past few weeks, allowing his man to regularly drive right past him. His effort level was there tonight. You can tell Lowry is engaged defensively when he is clearly baiting the opponent to throw a particular pass or drive at a particular angle. Tonight, Kyle appeared to take it as a personal insult whenever George Hill took him off the dribble. None of that even mentions the how Lowry contributed on offense. An efficient 19 points, while also leading the team in assists (8) and hitting three of the team’s nine threes. |  |
 | Greivis Vasquez, PG 28 MIN | 2-6 FG | 2-2 FT | 4 REB | 4 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 7 PTS | +9 +/-I barely noticed Vasquez tonight. Didn’t force his game too much as he is prone to do, rather spent much of the night in the backseat of the car. Overall, Vasquez played a smart and controlled game, but there has to be a midway point for him stylistically. (Note: I wrote this part before Vasquez attempted a sloppy transition three midway through the fourth quarter). Greivis did finish with the best plus/minus within Toronto’s starting line-up, which is largely a result of his opportunity to play more minutes with our bench. |  |
 | DeMar DeRozan, SG 33 MIN | 7-15 FG | 10-13 FT | 6 REB | 2 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 24 PTS | +2 +/-DeMar had a solid performance for the second game in a row. He attacked the basket early, which helped change the tide in Toronto’s favour. His 24 points, coupled with 13 trips to the free throw line, means you can’t have any real complaints about DeRozan’s game. I guess I shouldn’t say that…this is DeMar we are talking about and I’m sure someone will have somehow have serious complaints about his garbage performance. | |
 | Tyler Hansbrough, PF 21 MIN | 1-1 FG | 2-2 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 4 PTS | +11 +/-Every game that Hansbrough plays and fails to get an opponent to punch him in the face, always feels like a failure to me. Whenever I watch him it clearly has to be one of his goals. Loved his scrappy play while fighting for rebounds, and that effort opened up several second chance opportunities for the Raptors. But is it really too much to ask for him to get Hibbert to take a swing? Tyler did have a huge block early in the fourth quarter to calm a slight run by Indiana. | |
 | Patrick Patterson, PF 24 MIN | 4-7 FG | 3-4 FT | 3 REB | 3 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 13 PTS | +15 +/-I love Pat-Pat, and am incredibly pleased that the Raptors locked him up for just $6 million annually for the next three years. The man is already a bargain for a stretch big (especially when accounting for his recent burst in rebounding and his growing defense), but when the new TV money starts flowing, Masai Ujiri may have to wear a ski-mask whenever he meets with Patterson’s agent. The Raptors tonight, as they often do, just played better as a team when Patterson was on the court. |  |
 | Terrence Ross, SF 19 MIN | 5-10 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 11 PTS | +4 +/-Why does Ross continue to toy with my emotions? The moment that I resign myself to the idea of trading him, he has a game like this. He was cutting hard away from the ball, attack the basket on several occasions, made smart decisions on when to shoot, and used some clever moves to create space on mid-range jumpers. With 6:31 reamining in the fourth quarter, Ross had what might be his best play of the night. Raptors were in transition and Vasquez dropped the ball off for an in rhythm three point attempt from Patterson. In seeing this, Ross flashed around the Pacers defence (who were still attempting to get set) and positioned himself for a wide-open weakside rebound put-back. |  |
 | Greg Stiemsma, C 1 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | -1 +/-Hello, Greg!!! Nice to know you’re still alive after all this time.A+ for Greg…Indiana didn’t score a single point in the paint during Stiemsma’s time on the court. |  |
 | Louis Williams, SG 29 MIN | 3-10 FG | 6-7 FT | 0 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 14 PTS | +18 +/-How terrible does a Lou Williams shot have to be before Matt Devlin refuses to call it a good look? Lou missed all four of his shots at half time, but still found a way to contribute by somehow baiting his way into seven free throw opportunities. Do other teams not read the scouting report? That’s almost all that Lou is trying to do!!! How is this man still so effective? That being said, his second half was better. | |
 | James Johnson, PF DNP COACH’S DECISION MIN | FG | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS | +/-I miss James Johnson…who else will cock that joint back and bang it home? |  |
 | Dwane Casey Despite not having his best game, Valanciunas actually saw minutes in the fourth quarter. I have no idea how Casey makes some of his rotation decisions, but am happy to see Toronto’s defense has made a slight resurgence as of late. The Raptors spotted Indiana 9 points to start the game, and it was after a Casey timeout that Toronto started to take control of the game. I’m choosing to believe that Casey said something during this timeout to inspire his players, even though I have nothing to support | |
Five Things We Saw
- What an awful start for the Raptors. Opened the game missing their first four shots, while also committing two turnovers in the first 3:16 of the game. Both turnovers were committed on the pick and roll, with Indiana’s active hands causing plenty of trouble for Toronto. Despite their recent propensity to commit a ridiculous amount of turnovers, for the second game in a row Toronto committed managed to take relatively good control of the ball. If not for some extremely stupid offensive fouls late in the fourth quarter, Toronto would have had their second straight game of under 10 turnovers, a feat they had not accomplished once since December 28, 2014.
- Only three Raptors scored in the first quarter (DeRozan, Patterson, and Lowry) as Toronto continued its recent run of struggling at the start of the game. How does this team regularly fail to start a professional game with any type of intensity? I would suggest we look at shaking up the starting lineup, but we’ve already done that.
- Does anyone know what a clear path foul really is? Every time I see it reviewed I end up guessing wrong on the final outcome. Outside of jump ball violations, the clear path foul has to be the most randomly interpreted call by NBA officials. I was positive that Lou Williams was not going to get the clear path call, but the officials once again managed to confuse me.
- I’m a huge fan of Indiana using the traditional organ for their arena music, and would 100% support Toronto to move in this direction. This is the type of rebrand that I can get behind.
- That was a dirty foul by Stuckey with three minutes remaining. Grabbed Valanciunas from behind and dragged him to the ground, causing Jonas to regularly flex his elbow for the next few minutes. Rodney just made my crap list.
