Raptors by the numbers: How much does Game 1 loss hurt? | Eh Game – Yahoo Sports Canada
So based on their own history the odds are stacked against them, but what does history of the NBA say? According to WhoWins.com, the team that goes down 0-1 has rebounded to win a seven-game series 23% of the time. When that loss comes at home, however, the percentage jumps to 46%. Good teams, the ones that have earned home-court advantage, are in a better position to bounce back.
Why the Raptors lost Saturday is less of a mystery. Toronto turned the ball over 20 times and shot 21.4% (4-of-19) on three-pointers. Needless to say, that’s not a recipe for success. NBA teams went 65-135 (.325 winning-percentage) this season when turning the ball over 20 or more times and 42-123 (.255%) when shooting 21% or worse from three.
Raptors fans keep up their end of the bargain | Raptors | Sports | Toronto Sun
At one point in the game, Raptors guard Cory Joseph said he couldn’t hear a call.
“That’s how loud the crowd was,” he said. “They do a great job and we’re going to continue to need that.”
With Drake sitting courtside, in a camouflage of his own, the building was Toronto’s.
But the Raptors didn’t respond and the team that has never won a seven-game series dropped their playoff opener on home court for the third straight year.
And Joseph knows the Raptors need to do a better job in front of their crowd.
“The crowd’s great, the crowd’s always great,” Joseph said. “They help us a lot, they give us energy.”
Paul George had his way with Raptors | Raptors | Sports | Toronto Sun
George credited some halftime film work for his second half turnaround.
“I was trying to figure out a better approach and to come into the second half with a better focus,” George said. “I knew I was going to be able to get some good looks. I just had to be smarter about how I took them.”
George turned the game around in the third in a quarter that saw him up against DeRozan for the entire 12 minutes, the only two players who played the full third quarter.
George was 6-for-7 in the quarter for 17 points while DeRozan continued to struggle shooting just 2-of-9 for six points.
George may have won the first battle but he knows there’s more fight coming from DeRozan and he says he’ll be ready for it in Game 2.
Three things from the Raptors Game 1 loss to the Pacers and a bit more of the mail | Toronto Star
There were subtle changes the rotation and some glaring moves that Dwane made trying to find something that worked offensively that were needed because it was at that end of the floor where they were in the worst shape.
First, he went the end of the first quarter and about five minutes to start second without either DeRozan or Lowry on the court and that was entirely out of character.
Patrick Patterson didn’t have his greatest game – two emphatic finishes in transition were pretty cool, thought – but he sat about 11 minutes in a row to start the third quarter and then played about 12 in a row.
Terrence Ross was invisible – colour me shocked! – but he got some fourth quarter time and, yes, he made a big shot.
I don’t think you can play 10 guys in a playoff game, to tell you the truth, I think this team is best with nine but the question is, in this series who doesn’t play?
Ross? Powell? Scola? They’d be the three logical guys to look at and I’m sure Dwane’s working overtime with his staff to make that determination before tomorrow night.
Me? I’d pick Ross, even knowing he’s a pretty good shooter. I think you can get as much offence from Powell if he gets his usual open corner threes; I think you need 15-18 minutes from Scola for his savvy in four different chunks.
I don’t think you panic after one game but I do think you tweak and what they tried – virtually everything – didn’t work.
Doyel: Toronto should be scared of Paul George
There was a minute left in the Pacers’ surprisingly lopsided Game 1 victory Saturday, and George had the ball at midcourt. Lowry wanted it. George palmed it in one hand high above his head as Lowry reached for it. After about 10 or 15 seconds of that — maybe he got bored — George dribbled to the corner, faded toward the baseline and buried an 18-footer.
The crowd was leaving early and soon the Raptors were leaving early as well, walking off the court with five seconds left and the Pacers dribbling out the clock on a 100-90 victory, and this was the Paul George the Pacers were built around. He destroyed the Raptors at both ends, scoring 33 points — 27 in the second half — and shutting down Toronto scoring leader DeMar DeRozan. After averaging 23.5 points this season, DeRozan scored 14 Saturday. He was 5-of-19 from the floor, didn’t hit a 3-pointer, grabbed two rebounds, committed three turnovers. He was terrible.
Paul George Goes Off For 33 Points In Game 1 Victory
When we said Paul George saves his best for games on national television, we didn’t expect that he’d prove that fact so quickly.
George stepped up his game in the second half and scored 27 of his 33 points in the Indiana Pacers 100-90 win over the Toronto Raptors.
Indiana slowed down Toronto’s offense, allowing only a 38% field goal percentage from the field and more importantly only 4 of 19 (21.1%) from beyond the arc. For the Pacers, they made 11 of their 21 attempts (52.4%), another thing we knew Indiana had to do to win.
Paul George stepped up to lead Pacers and others followed – Indy Cornrows
– Solomon Hill adjusted nicely to playing key minutes in a tight playoff game. After getting caught gawking a couple of times early, Hill did his usual dirty work, helping solidify the Pacers on the defensive end. Hill finished with 13 points thanks to making all ten of his free throws after drawing fouls in the paint. Hill’s biggest play came with just over two minutes left in the game as the Pacers held an eight point lead, when he battled two other Raptors in a race for a long rebound. The effort drew a sixth foul on Jonas Valanciunas to knock him out of the game and the two free throws put the Pacers up 10.
– As most Pacers fans will readily admit, even that 10-point lead with two minutes left didn’t feel safe. But after another stop, Monta Ellis drained a three-pointer to push the lead to 13. That’s when I finally exhaled. Monta was active all day, although me missed a few third-quarter scoring opportunities in transition which kept things tight. But Monta was a big net positive finishing with 15 points, including eight points, three assists and two steals in the second half.
– Myles Turner played over 25 minutes thanks to continual foul trouble for Ian Mahinmi and the Rook held up well in his first playoff appearance. His line shows 10 points, five rebounds and five blocked shots but four of those 10 points in the fourth quarter helped put the Raptors away. While Paul George was going nuclear, he started finding teammates after drawing all of the defensive attention. Twice PG dropped a pass for Turner and the Rook handled and finished both dimes which added to the mounting frustration of the home team. Turner had his rookie moments on defense and rushed a few shots, but for the most part stayed in his lane, did his job and made winning plays when the Pacers needed them.
Raptors lose Game 1 at home again, fall to Pacers 100-90 – Raptors HQ
The negatives, however, abound. DeRozan’s soul was totally crushed by the presence of Paul George, who smothered DeMar while going off for 33 points of his own. George was easily the best player in the game, which bodes poorly for the Raptors. Coach Dwane Casey continually had no way to answer what the Pacers were doing in the second half and kept making curious substitution patterns throughout the game. Carroll came in and out, Powell (who played well) disappeared for long stretches, Patterson played for too long in a row and then sat for too long. The Ross experiment was largely a failure for the third year in a row. The Lowry plus bench lineup barely got any run. And then Casey kept going back to DeRozan even after he’d proven to be totally ineffective. It got to be hard to watch.
The tactics matter, but really this all comes back to Lowry. It hurts to say this but if Lowry is subpar, this series is already over. Like George, Lowry needs to be able to dictate the pace and flow of the game and the series. He did not do that tonight, either frustrated by the defensive looks the Pacers threw at him, or troubled by his elbow (he shot 4-of-9 from the free throw line). Or maybe, god help us, it was just a case of the yips. Those gotdamn yips.
As usual, favored Toronto Raptors start playoffs with a loss – NBA- ESPN
For three straight years now, the Toronto Raptors have increased their regular-season win total, only to find themselves facing an 0-1, first-round series deficit.
Their passionate fans brought it as usual — making Air Canada Centre come to life both inside and out on Maple Leaf Square — but their players failed to put together any consistent stretches of quality basketball.
And of course there was that Raptor killer on the other team named Paul — only this time his last name was George, not Pierce.
Paul George, doing his best Paul Pierce impersonation in this very building, had more points in the second half (27) than Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan did combined in four quarters (25) as the Pacers stole home-court advantage from Toronto with a 100-90 win on Saturday afternoon.
The Raptors are now 0-8 in playoff openers and have lost seven consecutive postseason games — all in which they had a better won-loss record than their opponent. They shot 38 percent from the field, went 4-for-19 from 3-point range, missed 12 free throws and committed 19 turnovers.
Raptors disappoint fans as Pacers take Game 1 of NBA playoffs | Toronto Star
But some fans exercised a bit more caution.
Eyram Ame says she’s been a fan since Vince Carter. Over the years she’s learned to temper her optimism, just in case the team disappoints.
“They had a good first half they just need to continue,” she said after the second quarter, when the Raptors were up by two.
Asked whether she thinks the team will go farther than they have in past playoffs, she shies away from making any wild predictions.
“I am hopeful for round two,” she said judiciously.
Raptors on hot seat after another playoff setback – Article – TSN
“I think it’s tough to really sit back and understand that last time in the palyoffs we got swept, we went out the way we did,” DeRozan had admitted on Friday, the eve of a new series, the blank slate he and his team have been waiting for. “It really ate away at me all summer, even as this season went on but you have to be patient and understand that the opportunity is going to come around and when it does, you just have to be ready. You can’t beat yourself up until it gets there.”
56 regular season wins and several franchise records later, that moment arrived on Saturday; only the Raptors’ best players did not. Instead of a team motivated by their unsettling history, they looked like a team that was burdened by it and now, here they are again.
With a 100-90 Game 1 loss to the Indiana Pacers, Toronto dropped its third straight series opener, each of them coming at home, and seventh consecutive playoff contest overall.
The third ranked defensive team in the NBA during this past season, the Pacers did what they set out to, taking Lowry and DeRozan out of their comfort zone and they deserve ample credit for that. Led by a couple of plus-defenders in George Hill and Paul George – one of the toughest perimeter stoppers in the game – Indiana held Toronto’s all-star duo to 25 points on 8-of-32 shooting.
Raptors refuse to panic after another Game 1 loss | Toronto Star
“Naw, it’s nothing to be worried about, honestly,” guard DeMar DeRozan said. “We understand, we just had a bad game. We shot 38 per cent. We turned the ball over. We missed 12 free throws. Take that away, we’re right there.”
Added Kyle Lowry: “We’re good, man. It’s one game.”
One at-times gruesome offensive game where the Raptors — particularly backcourt mates DeRozan (5-for-19, 14 points) and Lowry (3-for-13, 11 points) — looked as bad as they have all season.
The Raptors didn’t get nearly as many open looks as they usually do, they lost a key advantage when Jonas Valanciunas was taken out of the game with foul trouble, and they couldn’t stop a second-half onslaught from Indiana’s Paul George. It was bad all over and cost them home-court advantage in the best-of-seven series.
“I know the percentages and numbers, all that bullcrap, but it’s a long series and I know our team,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “Today we didn’t play to our identity, and I know we’ll come back and play more to our identity.”
Nightmare on Bay Street plays out yet again for Raptors – Sportsnet.ca
At this point it almost feels like a good college team could arrive in mid-April and benefit as the Raptors trip over their own feet. In this case Indiana grinded the game down, showed the Raptors stars wave upon wave of bodies on their way to the 100-90 win in Game 1.
It was a close game – Toronto led by one at the half and trailed by three heading into the fourth quarter – but it never felt like the Raptors’ game to win. They were playing that poorly, and when George watched some video at half and came out to rip the Raptors for 27 of his 33 points and five of his six assists, their fate was sealed.
It marks the eighth playoff series in franchise history that the Raptors have failed to win the opener, which goes a long way towards explaining why the Raptors are 1-8 all-time in post-season series.
The current cast haven’t been here for all of that, but dating back to Game 6 and 7 of their first-round loss to the Brooklyn Nets two years ago and their sweep at the hands of the Washington Wizards last year, the current Raptors core has now lost seven straight playoff games and three times blown Game 1 on home court.
Indiana Pacers 100 – Raptors 90: No-Stars
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.
Raptors back in familiar playoff hole, stumble yet again in Game 1 – CBSSports.com
Just like 2014 and 2015, Toronto led off the league’s playoff schedule with an afternoon tip. Fans packed “Jurassic Park” outside the Air Canada Centre. Drake sat courtside. Unlike 2014 and 2015, Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri elected not to address the mob outside, lest he risk another fine for using profanity. Also: Paul Pierce was not in the building.
The result, however, was frustrating and familiar. What in the world is with Toronto and Game 1 losses?
“If I would know, I would change something,” Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas said. “But nobody knows. It happened.”
Valanciunas provided the biggest reason of optimism for Toronto going forward. In just 22 minutes, he scored 12 points and pulled down 19 rebounds, a franchise playoff record. He fouled out, though, and couldn’t help the Raptors much from the bench.
“Hopefully he won’t get in foul trouble again,” Toronto coach Dwane Casey said. “Some of them were cheap fouls, wrestling matches. He’s got to show his hands and don’t even put yourself in that position to get the calls.”
Raptors battling themselves, the Pacers, and the weight of defying destiny — The Defeated — Medium
When you look at the match-up on paper, the Raptors should be the favorites (and for fear of being too naive the Raptors should still be favored to win the series) but it never felt that way. All afternoon, the call from Matt Devlin wasn’t one of confidence or patience — he dealt that slick reassurance that we’ve grown tired of hearing.
“Raptors didn’t play well, but they still have a five-point lead heading into the second.”
“Not the best half from Lowry and DeRozan but they’re still in this.”
Spare Devlin the blame because his intentions were good. He’s seen this movie before, he knows the fans have too, and all he wanted was to quell panic. He was being noble more than anything else. The Raptors are the better team, they had home court, and yet they couldn’t perform.
Only one thing will snap the nervous tension that tracks itself like lint into every Raptors playoff game — the Raptors have to win.
