Raptors get blown out by the Pacers in Game 4, lose 100-83 – Raptors HQ
DeMar DeRozan could not get anything going, and often looked lost on the court. Sure he played well on Thursday, but it’s a concerning trend as his playoff struggles returned. DeRozan had only four points while going 2-for-8 from the field in the opening two quarters. Luis Scola was once again the weakest link, and it’s simply baffling howPatrick Patterson is not starting by this point.
The Argentinian’s inability to challenge shots continues to kill the Raptors’ interior defense. JV was beasting again, remaining the most dominant player of the series. Casey tried to shake things up by bringing Norman Powellinto the game and the adjustment seemed to work, as Powell played like a seasoned veteran instead of a rookie. The
Indiana rallies behind … Ian Mahinmi? Ties series at 2-2 | Ball Don’t Lie – Yahoo Sports
The Pacers were clearly aided by the presence of rookieMyles Turner in the starting lineup. Replacing the workmanlike Lavoy Allen, who has struggled to contribute against Toronto thus far, Turner missed a series of long jumpers in his first playoff start but still put the pressure on the Raptors on either end of the court. The 20-year old needed 13 shots to score his four points, but he added seven rebounds, two blocks and unending defensive help in nearly 27 minutes of play.
The Raptors, meanwhile, took an afternoon off.
All-Star DeMar DeRozan paired up equally awful halves, shooting 2-8 in the first half and 2-7 in the second with three turnovers in both settings. Backcourt mate Kyle Lowry was far more active, the polar opposite of his tentative teammate, but he still missed eight of 12 shots in the loss. Mixing an unholy batch of unsure play and ill-timed aggressiveness, the Raptors turned the ball over 11 times in the first 22 minutes of Game 4.
Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan of Toronto Raptors continue to struggle – Stats & Info- ESPN
The fourth-highest scoring duo in the NBA in the regular season, Lowry and DeRozan combined to average 44.7 points. They are averaging 28.8 points in the series against the Pacers.
Lowry and DeRozan combined to shoot 8-for-27 in Game 4, including 0-for-7 from beyond the 3-point line. For the series, they are shooting 30.8 percent from the field, the worst of any starting backcourt in the 2016 postseason. Moreover, they combined for as many turnovers as assists Saturday (nine).
The next-worst shooting by a starting backcourt has come from the Portland Trail Blazers (32.8 percent entering Saturday night’s Game 3 against the Los Angeles Clippers).
Raptors let the old playoff ghosts back out in Game 4 loss to Pacers
Miserable defense, bad spacing, sloppy fouls, turnovers, all the usual ingredients for a typical Raptors playoff loss, the ones we’ve become accustomed to over these past few years. And of course, DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry once again showing up small, shooting a combined 8 of 27 from the field for 20 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and nine turnovers together.
What’s worse, the Raptors were outscored by 14 points with DeRozan on the floor in Game 4.
What makes this game so painful for the Raptors is that it was an opportunity to put the series away. A 3-1 lead, having won three straight and going back to Toronto for Game 5 would have put the Pacers down for the count. Teams don’t get back up down 3-1 (unless you’re the Rockets with Josh Smith draining inexplicable 3s vs. the Clippers last year). The Raptors could have buried the No. 7 seed and sent Indiana online looking for vacation flight arrangements. Instead, they not only let them off the mat, but have given them a great look at taking this series.
Pacers stifle Raptors offence, tie series at two apiece | NBA PLAYOFFS | Raptors
The Raptors estimated about 1,700 supporters attended and there were dueling chants throughout the game and a raucous atmosphere outside pre-game.
Unfortunately for the diehards, Toronto came out flat, or maybe the words are “fat and sassy,” a favourite Dwane Casey saying. Armed with a 2-1 series lead, Toronto looked lethargic, while the desperate home side was amped-up from the jump and took it to the Raptors immediately. DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry continued their latest inexplicably poor playoff runs and continue to miss shots at alarming rates.
DeRozan is now shooting 29.6% from the field in the series, Lowry 32.2%.
Indiana, led by career games from George Hill — who was phenomenal in the first half and ended up with 22 points, to go along with his lockdown defence on Lowry — and Ian Mahinmi (22 points as well), put the clamps on the Toronto stars once again.
NBA Playoffs: Pacers bring the fight in Game 4 win over Raptors, series tied – Indy Cornrows
Mahinmi entered the game shooting an abysmal 23% from the floor, partially due to shots not falling, but also in a big way due to being completely overwhelmed with Jonas Valanciunas, who entered action with a playoff high 40 rebounds in three games. Better effort on the glass early helped take away Valanciunas’s rebounding impact early and often as he finished with just six rebounds, held to just two offensive boards.
Valanciunas was 6-7 from the floor for 15 points, but was not utilized thanks to the play of Myles Turner, entering the starting lineup in place of Lavoy Allen. Turner had just four points , but he and Mahinmi were big on the glass, pulling in eight combined offensive rebounds as the Pacers got the better of the Raptors on the glass for the first time in the series 43-40, including a 15-11 edge on the offensive glass.
The Raptors fall with their stars: Arthur
“Tip of the hat: they’re scheming for me and DeMar and they’re making the shots tougher. But at the end of the day we’ve still got to make shots.”
They keep saying this, and maybe that’s all they can do. George Hill is a long, defensively strong point guard, and he’s made Lowry’s job difficult. Paul George is simply a brilliant defender, and he devours DeRozan. The Pacers’ team defence has been geared to show them bodies with long arms. It’s not easy.
And yes, so many supporting Raptors were lousy in Game 4, and so many missed shots that could have changed the outcome: Luis Scola with a series of open threes early in the third and the deficit down to 12 points; DeMarre Carroll, Cory Joseph, Terrence Ross. Toronto’s East-best bench couldn’t click, and Jonas Valanciunas got beat up. When DeRozan said he could have had eight or nine assists instead of four, he wasn’t wrong.
Five moments from Game 4 of the Raptors-Pacers series
There were questions about whether Indiana’s Ian Mahinmi would play because of a bad back. So all he did was eat up the Raptors all night. How’s this for a night for the ages? Never in 52 career playoff appearances had Mahinmi scored more than 10 points or had more than seven rebounds and one assist in any single game. He had 22 points, 10 rebounds and five assists Saturday.
With chance to take 3-1 series lead, Raptors fail to match Pacers’ intensity in Game 4 – NBA- ESPN
“To be honest, I feel like the shots DeMar and me are taking we’ve made all year,” Lowry said. “They’re just not falling right now, but I’m not going to shy away from taking them, and neither is DeMar. Tip of the hat: They’re scheming for me and DeMar, and they’re making shots tougher. But at the end of the day, we’ve still got to make shots.”
Lowry found himself in early foul trouble and totaled 12 points and six assists before being disqualified late in the fourth quarter, while DeRozan had just eight points and did not get to the free throw line for the second time this series.
Pacers vs. Raptors, Game 4: Notes, quotes and numbers from Pacers win – Indy Cornrows
“Right from the start, from the first quarter, we were playing for each other,” said Pacers head coach Frank Vogel.
The Pacers shared the ball and the spotlight after the game as Ian Mahinmi took in his first post-game podium experience. Mahinmi joked about his first time on the podium, wondering where the Gatorade prop was while gingerly taking the stage and sitting down to avoid further strain on his back which ached, but held up well enough for the Pacers center to deliver a monster game with 22 points, 10 rebounds (both postseason career highs) and five assists.
Those five assists led the team and revealed how the Pacers shared the ball all day, finishing with 24 assists and just 12 turnovers. Mahinmi dished out one more assist from the podium.
Doyel: Pacers come out swinging, overwhelm Raptors
“I was just going for the rebound,” Valanciunas softly objected afterward. “I was not trying to hit him.”
Hence Toronto’s problem: The Pacers were trying to hit the Raptors, metaphorically and categorically, and for 48 minutes they did just that until the referees pulled them off the battered Raptors – calling an end to a 100-83 Pacers blowout that sent so many messages, all of which can be boiled down to four words:
We have a series.
“We set the tone early,” said forward Myles Turner after the Pacers evened the series at 2-all.
Raptors forward DeMarre Carroll put it more viscerally.
“They threw the first punch,” he said.
Raptors Fans’ Flags And Signs Confiscated In Pacers’ Arena — NBA — The Sports Quotient
As the first-round playoff series between the Toronto Raptors and Indiana Pacers shifted to Indiana at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Raps fans have been invading the city to support their team. However, it seems that the Pacers’ organization are doing their best to take full advantage of their home court.
Before Saturday’s Game 4, there were talks that security in Bankers Life are prohibiting “We The North” and other Raptors’ signage.
Tempers flare between Raptors’ Valanciunas and Pacers’ George | NBA PLAYOFFS | R
George said the moment had been building all afternoon.
“All night, Jonas is throwing his elbows, flailing his elbows and trying to lock arms,” George said. “It was almost the play before he did almost the same thing and I let it slide and Ian (Mahinmi) shot a free throw so I crashed to try and get a rebound and next thing you know his hands are once again coming up towards my throat and I didn’t like that.”
George got in Valanciunas’ face while DeMarre Carroll joined the fray trying desperately to get at George.
Game Rap: Raptors 83, Pacers 100 | Toronto Raptors
STAGNANT SECOND HALF
Toronto was much more successful on the defensive end of the floor in the third quarter, holding Indiana to 27 percent shooting. Unfortunately, the Pacers also held Toronto in check offensively as both teams were limited to 16 points apiece in the quarter and Indiana’s 15-point advantage stayed intact heading into the fourth. In the final quarter, it was more of the same. Toronto couldn’t get on track offensively and Indiana had 11 made field goals in the quarter compared to five for the Raptors.
Raptors outworked, outhustled in embarrassing loss to Pacers – Sportsnet.ca
“I’m positive, I’m confident, we’re staying level,” said Raptors all-star Kyle Lowry. “We’re not getting too high, we’re not getting too low. And that’s the one thing that we’ve been preaching throughout the whole season. Stay level-headed. It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. We gave up home-court advantage, and we kind of got it back with the win in Game 3, but tonight, they played extremely hard. We’ve just got to stay within ourselves. You can’t think about this or that. We’ve got to learn from tonight and get better.”
So sure, there are no guarantees in fandom, but when the team you’ve travelled that far to see simply fails to execute fundamental basketball at either end? Yeah, some sort of make-good might be in order.
