A friend will turn foe once again.
For the second time in two weeks, the Toronto Raptors and Indiana Pacers will square off with Pascal Siakam playing in his first home game against his former squad.
Raptors Outlook: 21-36 | 12th in Eastern Conference
Raptors Previous Results
@ Atlanta W 123-121
vs Brooklyn W 121-93
vs Indiana L 127-125
vs San Antonio L 122-99
vs Cleveland L 119-95
This might be the most important game for Toronto for one reason and one reason only.
Pizza.
The Dinos will go for three wins for the first time this year and will look to finally receive the once-promised pizza party for doing so. Toronto has come out of the all-star break with a fire lit under there you know what, demolishing Brooklyn before squeaking out a win against Atlanta, payback for losing a nail-biter to them earlier in the season.
The Raptors are top 10 in both offensive and defensive rating since play in the league resumed and will look to continue that trend against a lethal offence.
Pacers Outlook: 33-25 | 7th in Eastern Conference
Pacers Previous Results
vs Dallas W 133-111
vs Detroit W 129-115
@ Toronto W 127-125
@ Charlotte L 111-102
@ New York W 125-111
After hosting all-star weekend, Indiana will play in their third game post-break and the second half of a back-to-back. They are coming off a convincing win last night against the red-hot Mavericks taking them down by more than 20 points. Myles Turner was a monster tying a season-high 33 points to go along with eight rebounds. Pascal Siakam had a near double-double putting up 12 points and nine rebounds.
The Pacers’ offence is lethal, but since the all-star break, the Raptors have the seventh-best defensive rating. It will be interesting to see if that trend continues against a top offence in the association in Indiana.
Game Info
Tip-Off: 7:00 p.m. ET
Television: TSN
Radio: Sportsnet 590 The Fan
Starting Lineups (Projected)
Indiana Pacers
PG: Tyrese Haliburton
SG: Andrew Nembhard
SF: Bennedict Mathurin
PF: Pascal Siakam
C: Myles Turner
Toronto Raptors
PG: Immanuel Quickley
SG: Gary Trent Jr.
SF: RJ Barrett
PF: Scottie Barnes
C: Jakob Poeltl
Injury Report
Pacers
Aaron Nesmith (ankle) – Doubtful
Raptors
Markquis Nowell (Hamstring) – Out
FanDuel Betting Odds
| Team | Spread | Money | Total |
| Indiana Pacers | -6.5 (-110) | -260 | O 246 (-110) |
| Toronto Raptors | +6.5 (-110) | +215 | U 246 (-110) |
The Pacers come into this one 25th in the NBA in defensive rating (118.8), while the Raptors aren’t much better at 22nd in the association (117.2). Also, the last time these two teams faced-off they combined for 252 points, taking the over could be considered.
