Toronto kind of did Indiana dirty with that comeback. How many teams are going to hit 19 triples, have a 19-point lead midway through the third quarter, and still manage to lose on a last-second Serge Ibaka prayer? That game was an absolute heist.
Sahal Abdi wrote a fantastic gameday preview for the February 5 contest, and all of what he wrote still stands. I’m not going to add too much to his preview, which focused on the Oladipo angle as he returns from injury, other than this: Oladipo may not play, as he will rest one leg of Indiana’s back-to-back Friday and Saturday night, but we don’t know which game. Either way, Indiana will be out for blood.
If Toronto wants to repeat and stretch the winning streak to 13, much of it will depend on how the Raptors defend Sabonis. He was masterful against Toronto a few days ago. One play in particular stood out. He tried for a handoff, which Toronto denied. So his cutter went backdoor, and Sabonis threw the perfect, Gasolian lob. After the traditional penetrate-pass-pass, the ball found its way back to Sabonis. Despite Fred VanVleet defending the action perfectly and contesting well, Sabonis drilled the triple.
Sabonis does everything well. He blends old-school, low-post, bruising basketball with new-school, shooting, passing, skill-based center play. He is an offense unto himself, and his footwork is second to none. He notched a triple double the first time around, and he torched practically everyone Toronto sent his way. Ibaka, Pascal Siakam, and OG Anunoby all saw time as Sabonis’s primary defender, and all had moments of success, at least. Siakam was probably the most bothersome, and Sabonis did have five turnovers. Those live-ball turnovers, in general, were what allowed Toronto to fight back into the game. Especially if Dipo doesn’t play, and the Pacers don’t hit 50 percent of a million attempted triples, the Raptors could use turnovers to win the home-and-home.
GAME INFO
Tipoff: 8:00pm EST | TV: SN1| Radio: 590
RAPTORS UPDATES
Norman Powell (finger) and Dewan Hernandez (ankle) are out indefinitely, while Marc Gasol (hamstring) remains day-to-day.
PG: Kyle Lowry, Pat McCaw, Terence Davis
SG: Fred VanVleet, Matt Thomas, Malcolm Miller
SF: OG Anunoby, Oshae Brissett, Stanley Johnson
PF: Pascal Siakam, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
C: Serge Ibaka, Chris Boucher
Pacers UPDATES
TJ Warren (concussion) remains out. Victor Oladipo (rest) is questionable, and he will miss one game of his back-to-back either Friday or Saturday night. TJ Leaf (illness) is also day-to-day.
PG: Malcolm Brogdon, TJ McConnell
SG: Jeremy Lamb, Aaron Holiday
SF: Justin Holiday, Doug McDermott, JaKarr Sampson
PF: Domantas Sabonis
C: Myles Turner, Goga Bitadze
THE LINE
Pretty, pretty even odds. Raptors -1.5, but that can change, especially when we find out if Oladipo will play. The over-under is 218.5.