Gameday: Raptors @ Pacers, Dec. 23

No time for sentimentality for the Raptors, as they board the plane and head south (a little bit) to play the Pacers. Both teams fresh off a game the previous night, one of which was fun, the other not so much. The Raptors stitched together their torn and ripped rotation to mount a franchise best comeback – and the largest comeback in the NBA in the past decade – and the Pacers fell victim to a shellacking from the Bucks. Now they have to play each other mere hours later.

The Pacers represent a really good test of where this Raptors team is at with all the injuries. The Wizards were absolutely inept defensively, and a Raptors team that has been robbed of so many offensive weapons thrived against that ineptitude. And I had so much fun watching the Mavericks game, and there were so many inspired performances. However (comma) considering a 30-point comeback only comes along once every ten years (one in every 24,600 games, roughly) it seemed like divine intervention rather than something the Raptors can reliably channel into every performance.

Kristaps Porzingis’ complete lack of a postgame is largely what enabled the Raptors to unleash their furious blitzing defense that stalled out a lot of what was working for the Mavericks through most of the third quarter. Hell, Patrick McCaw guarded Porzingis for extended stretches of the game. There’s a few things you can be certain of when you play the Pacers: Domantas Sabonis is going to abuse you a few times in the post. Malcolm Brogdon and Sabonis are going to run a punishing pick n’ roll and you can’t be lazy about tagging Sabonis on the dive. And lastly, the Pacers are going to have a sound defense. You have to earn your baskets in the half-court.

From the Black Box Report:

“The way the Raptors handle the Sabonis matchup should speak volumes about how they view the Pacers. The Pacers don’t turn the ball over that often and have one of the best assist to turnover ratios in the league, that paints a picture of a team that should be able to punish double teams easily. However (comma) the Pacers are reluctant to shoot from downtown relative to the rest of the league (29th in attempts) and that opens up the idea that the Raptors can be selective in their closeouts and funnel the ball to the Pacers weaker players. A strategy that the Raptors perfected for a time, and if executed properly should work against the Pacers.

The Pacers are going to try and slow this game way down and run things through Sabonis and Brogdon, hoping to keep the Raptors’ defensive ball-hawks at bay, and take away a chunk of their fast break offense. And it’ll be up to the Raptors to respond in kind, by digging in on the Pacers ancillary playmakers, forcing players to the baseline and returning to the crisp rotations that have defined this team for so long.”

There’s a definite silver-lining in that a lot of the players the Raptors have come to rely on can perform much better vs. the Pacers than they did the Mavericks. Serge Ibaka had an objectively tough game vs. the Mavericks (and it was a great vacuum of opportunity for Boucher to step into) to follow up an unbelievably good performance against the Pistons and the Wizards. Gasol had been in absolutely terrific form before his injury and deserved to start, but there’s no doubt that Ibaka is good enough to start for a lot of teams in the league, and he is without question one of the best bench players in the NBA when he’s coming off of the pine.

It would be a huge step for the Raptors to be able to beat the Pacers on the road. The Pacers have been the definition of consistent and competent this year while they wait for their star, Victor Oladipo, to return from injury and inject a higher ceiling into the teams DNA.

Game Info

Tipoff: 710pm EST | TV: Sportsnet One | TheFan590

Raptors Updates

Pascal Siakam (groin) is out, Marc Gasol (hamstring) is out, Norman Powell (shoulder) is out, Matt Thomas (finger) is out, Stanley Johnson (groin) is out.

PG: Kyle Lowry, Terence Davis II, Shamorie Ponds

SG: Fred VanVleet

SF: Patrick McCaw, Malcolm Miller, Oshae Brissett

PF: OG Anunoby, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Dewan Hernandez

C: Serge Ibaka, Chris Boucher