Quick Reaction: Pacers 73, Raptors 92

It’s a match-up like Myles Turner that I’m sure helped inspire the acquisition of Ibaka last year. A power forward with a defensive reputation, that can in theory guard both frontcourt positions, both inside and outside. Ibaka more than lived up to that hype today, and was easily the best player on the night.

He was hitting shots, fighting for rebounds, and contesting anything within reach. Tonight he was even effective at using a fake on the perimeter to open up a driving lane. This isn’t always successful, and is often not a welcome sight, but it looked good tonight.

OG made Oladipo work for everything, and seemed to visibly frustrate the Pacers’ star. He once again looked like his bounce is coming back after his injury, and the effort was there all night. We even saw him switch onto Turner, which is just the latest example of the defensive versatility that the Raptors’ hope to develop further. His defence on Oladipo was reminiscent of what he showed against James Harden in an early season matchup against Houston.

Perhaps the most encouraging moment for me happened with roughly 3 minutes left in the first half. Sabonis came up to set a screen for Oladipo, only to have OG feel it out and draw an offensive foul by quickly fighting over the screen. This was one very small play and relatively inconsequential, but it shows progress in an area (getting around screens) that we need to see from OG.

Would have liked to see him be more aggressive scoring when guarded by Sabonis, but a good game overall from Jonas nonetheless. The Pacers don’t play a traditional bruising centre that typically makes for a good match-up for Jonas, but he more than held his own and won the battle on the glass with 12 rebounds in 22 minutes.

The shot was a struggle, missing his first four shots on the night before hitting a tough corner three near the end of the first half. Collison clearly bothered Lowry by getting into him and pressuring before Lowry had a chance to even start his dribble. The Pacers did a great job for most of the night limiting the quality of Lowry’s looks, but he caught fire a little late in the third that helped open the lead to 22 at the time.

While he struggled scoring his passing was on point, leading to a game high 9 assists.

With just over two minutes gone in the first quarter DeRozan stopped a 2-on-1 with a block on Bogdanovic, following it up by drawing a foul with his pump-fake and hitting the jumper anyway. He had the full arsenal working tonight, as he put in the work on both sides.

It’s been written about and discussed plenty throughout the season, and yet I still don’t think DeMar has gotten enough credit for his passing. The reads he makes on the move are so much more advanced than could have been dreamed about just a few years ago. His 8 assists are impressive, but it only touches on the quality of his passing.

All he’s missing is a jumpshot, and based on the growth he’s shown in all areas of his game since last season I have to believe it will come along. I’m still caught off guard by the smooth push-shots and hooks that he puts down, how fast he gets down the court for a dunk, the violent blocks he gets sky high for, or the tricky passes that seemingly come out of nowhere. Tonight was a little bit of everything, and his boxscore just doesn’t do him justice once again.

He got outplayed by Cory Joseph tonight. All of his shots were open, and missed them all before a layup when the game was already in hand. That one bucket at least was executed on a beautiful eurostep, which he makes all the prettier with his slender body and long arms.

One of the first times he touched the ball he dropped a handoff and kicked it out of bounds. He followed it up the next time down the floor by air-balling a corner three. I had to turn my thermostat up based on the cold draft coming from CJ’s game right now. Even if his shot isn’t falling he can still be a very minor weapon based on the threat of his shot…but that isn’t nearly enough, especially when the rest of the time he seems to be turning it over or committing bad fouls.

If there is open space on the floor you can bet Poeltl will find it. Just does all the little things well. Went 5-for-5 simply by finding space and using his soft hands. I wonder what moisturizer he uses?

Great production in just 18 minutes.

A rare weak performance from both back-up point guards, which ultimately didn’t matter because the starters were so hot. Moved well without the ball to help open up other action, but was mostly a non-factor until garbage time in the fourth quarter.

A whole lot of zeros on his boxscore, but still an encouraging night for Norm. He didn’t force anything and played solid defence on a variety of Pacer guards. This was a positive 2 point, 2 rebound, and 1 steal game.

He got cooked repeatedly by Al Jefferson. That’s a negative.

The Raptors came to play tonight, knowing what the win means for the season and the franchise. That’s a shared credit to the team, but shows good preparation so shouts to Casey. They challenged shots, got out in transition whenever possible to force mismatches, and hustled for loose balls.

Allowing 33 points in the first half is a great sign for a team that has recently struggled to stop almost anyone. Great effort overall, and Casey gets an A+ due to once again setting the franchise wins record. The man is a gem, and I am regretful for wanting him fired so many times.

The team seemed to lose a little focus for a few minutes in the fourth, allowing the Pacers to have several wide open shots, but still managed to maintain/extend their lead.