Quick Reaction: Pacers 95, Raptors 97

The Raptors first half run began with Poeltl, his movement into back-to-back reverse layups got the lid off the basket at a time when it was much needed. His rebounding on both ends of the floor was solid as well and a few dimes solidified a decent outing. His big block on his former bench mob teammate Pascal Siakam to keep the game tied before the Ingram game-winner alone bumped his grade up.

Barnes was hyper-aggressive all night in this one, something about playing Siakam lit a fire. He was attacking the former Raptor on both offense and defense. If it weren’t for his energy early the Raptors would have fallen way behind. He was driving to the rim, finishing, dishing, and fading for midrange jumpers to score 16 in the half. Barnes really didn’t get going in the second half until the fourth quarter, when it became clear that he would not let the Raptors lose. A mid range jumpshot, an offensive rebound, powering through three defenders to draw the foul, another hard drive to get two more free throws. Barnes finished this one 14/14 from the line. A true testament to his desire to win in this one.

Another night where Quickley’s shot wasn’t really falling early, but did more of the little things. Had good control getting to the paint and putting up a push shot early and then setting a ball screen to get Barnes to the rim and to the free throw line. Had a really nice over the top pass to Poeltl to get an open look when things were looking ugly in the first half and created a pair of extra possessions with steals. In the second half he set the table for a pair of Ingram buckets early, simple point guard stuff. His play in the fourth quarter was great, he came out aggressive looking to keep the offense flowing. He had 5 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists in the fourth quarter alone, great closing from IQ.

BANG! My goodness!!! This is Brandon Ingram, this is exactly why the Raptors brought him to the team. He was excellent all night scoring tough buckets at the end of shot clocks and coming up with multiple big defensive stops. In the fourth quarter, the Raptors were going to live or die by Ingram’s sword. A fadeaway middy to take the lead, followed by a deep pull up two, and the feather in the cap: A classic Ingram pull up mid range to seal the win. No notes, take a bow Brandon Ingram.

After starting the last game, Rajakovic made the decision to start Murray-Boyles in this one. But after he picked up two quick fouls, Walter got into the game early. However his impact really didn’t start until late in the 2nd quarter when he closed the half with the four usual starters. He contributed with the second three of the half for Toronto en route to a 12-0 run to take the lead heading into halftime. In the second half he got the start and hit two more threes early to push the lead further. A blind double steal on Siakam led to a fastbreak putback dunk for Ingram. A burst to the rim in the fourth gave him his final points of the night. His impact didn’t stop though as he drew an offensive foul on a Mathurin drive down 1 with a little over four minutes left. If it weren’t for the game-winner by Ingram I would argue Walter was the most impactful player tonight.

Like everyone on the Raptors, Mamukelashvili was struggling to shoot early. He missed a couple of threes and then gave up a wide-open dunk on a missed defensive coverage. He did have back-to-back buckets to cut the lead to 6 off an offensive putback and-1 and then a pick n’ roll with Shead. In fairness to him, the refs were letting a lot go tonight and he was hammered pretty hard on a couple of drives. But he has to find ways to be impactful through the contact, like he did late with a cut and patience under the rim. Unfortunately it was too little too late, seemed like things were just a little off for him tonight.

Got cooked by a classic Spicy P spin move and wasn’t seen again until the 4th where he drove into three defenders on the fastbreak and turned the ball over. Not really sure what the thought process was.

Subbed in and immediately grabbed a weakside offensive board and kicked it to Quickley for a three. His shot wasn’t falling again but he did make up for it with his defense. Unfortunately he took a scary fall in the first quarter and was ruled out for the remainder of the game due to concussion protocol.

First thing I noticed was halfway through the 2nd quarter when he pestered Nembhard the entire way up the court before losing him on a screen. He did have a nice pick n’ roll with Mamu to cut the lead to 6 in the first half. In the second half he only recorded two rebounds and missed an open three, an oddly unimpactful night for the second year guard.

Making his fourth career start tonight, Murray-Boyles drew the Pascal Siakam matchup. Picked up a 2nd foul attacking the offensive glass at the 8:44 mark after deciding to pass on an open corner three, one he needs to shoot. Did not come back into the game until five minutes left in the third where this time he didn’t hesitate to shoot a corner three. Unfortunately he missed it.

Got minutes to open the 2nd quarter after a slow first quarter start and the injury to Dick. Really nice cut to get a wide open bucket when the offense was stalling. He grabbed a few rebounds and then missed a dunk in the fourth quarter before being subbed out. Didn’t get a single three point look which really shouldn’t happen any time he’s on the court.

I really didn’t understand the decision to start Collin Murray-Boyles in this one, there is a plethora of shooting guards ready to replace Barrett so deciding to insert a non-shooting forward was certainly a choice. Luckily Rajakovic corrected the mistake quickly, after the rook picked up 2 fouls in the first three minutes he didn’t see the court the rest of the half. I have to give credit to the quick adjustment that he made by inserting Walter in the starting lineup the rest of the way. That change alone made a huge difference in this one, and Walter was one of the most impactful players of the night. It was a difficult night to manage without any bench player really getting things going (other than Walter), but Rajakovic found enough to get the win. Also, kudos to him on not calling the timeout for the final possession. I wholeheartedly believe Rick Carlisle would have made sure to send a double to Ingram late but by not calling the timeout the Pacers had no time to think and Ingram secured the win.