 | P. Patterson 23 MIN | 4-9 FG | 3-5 3FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 11 PTS | +11 +/- He was immense in the third quarter when the Raptors made a big push, hitting a couple daggers from deep and playing active defense. He did well guarding Paul George when switched on him. |  |
 | D. Carroll 37 MIN | 1-6 FG | 1-4 3FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 2 STL | 2 BLK | 1 TO | 3 PTS | +5 +/- I’m handing out A’s here like candy. Nothing in the box score jumps out for DMC, but man did he do a fine job on George, and he was diving for loose balls with everything he had. |  |
 | J. Valanciunas 28 MIN | 4-10 FG | 0-0 3FG | 2-2 FT | 15 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 10 PTS | -2 +/- Solid inside and gave the Raps’ ample 2nd-chance opportunities by dominating the boards. | |
 | K. Lowry 37 MIN | 5-14 FG | 0-4 3FG | 1-2 FT | 4 REB | 9 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 11 PTS | +0 +/- The ‘shooters elbow’ is a real thing, but that will never hinder Lowry from giving every ounce of his energy to get the Raptors to the 2nd round. He was diving for loose balls, fighting through screens, and dropping dimes. Overall, a great series from Lowry despite the poor shooting. He just brings so much to the table. | |
 | D. DeRozan 40 MIN | 10-32 FG | 1-5 3FG | 9-9 FT | 5 REB | 2 AST | 3 STL | 2 BLK | 1 TO | 30 PTS | +5 +/- What a strange game. This could have easily swayed towards an ‘F’ grade had DeMar not come alive in the third quarter. After a solid 6/12 start, he missed his next eight shots, and then followed it up with a demonic third quarter push where he made several conseuctive all-star plays on the offensive end. Defensively, the Raptors hid him well enough. He had a nice block on Solomon Hill in the fourth, and overall probably earned his extension. | |
 | T. Ross 5 MIN | 0-1 FG | 0-1 3FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | -1 +/- Casey had him on a crazy-short leash tonight, and TJ struggled in his limited minutes. |  |
 | B. Biyombo 20 MIN | 1-3 FG | 0-0 3FG | 1-4 FT | 11 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 3 PTS | +7 +/- Monstrous. Won every loose ball, grabbed every possible rebound, riled the crowd, brought energy – everything he does is conducive to giving the Raptors a psychological boost. |  |
 | C. Joseph 27 MIN | 4-8 FG | 0-1 3FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 4 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 8 PTS | +0 +/- That ‘ship experience coming good. Ice in his veins, steel in his balls. | |
 | N. Powell 23 MIN | 5-6 FG | 3-4 3FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 13 PTS | +0 +/- I would urge every person reading this piece to rate this grade as ‘too low’. A+ doesn’t even do him justice. He did a phenomenal job on Paul George and was deadly from deep. Remember when we were concerned about his lack of range? So primitive of us, in hindsight. | |
 | Dwane Casey He made the right calls. Not only kept Ross on the bench, but rewarded Powell all kinds of burn and even ran out of timeout plays for him. The decision to start Patterson and keep Scola off the floor payed off. | |
Five Things We Saw
- The atmosphere tonight was pressure-popping, and, I was concerned about how that might affect the team.
But the team impressed and arose – perhaps surprisingly – and showed no signs of the jitters. A game of maturity and heart.
- The defence from the team overall was really good, particularly from Powell and Carroll, and that really set the stone, forcing the Pacers to be stagnant through stretches with George kept in check.
- The Raptors’ offensive flow was pretty – they penetrated and swung it around all game. At times it was DeMar iso-heavy, but the team also had 21 assists – by far their best mark in the series.
- The Biyombo-Valanciunas rebound-generating machine was huge in leading to 2nd chance points. The Raptors out-rebounded the Pacers 49-38, and Jonas had 6 offensive boards on his own.
The Larry Bird struggle zoom, recreated pic.twitter.com/XjSgJY7K49
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) May 2, 2016
