Paul George wanted the Indiana Pacers to play pissed off in Game 4, and they did just that in a dominant win over the Toronto Raptors.
Much like this wonderful work of art, The Indiana Pacers ran over the Toronto Raptors in Game 4.
The Good: Paul George was not the leading scorer. The Pacers needed more than their superstar to overpower the Raptors, and Indiana got that from Ian Mahinmi and George Hill in particular. Almost every player on the Pacers brought something to Game 4 and tilted things in Indiana’s favor.
The Indiana defense kept DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry to 8 of 27 shooting and only 20 combined points. DeMarre Carroll was 4 of 8 from deep for 12 points, but as a team, Toronto only shot 26.7% (8 of 30) from 3-point range and 36.5% from the field.
The Pacers played pissed-off basketball on Saturday with their backs against the wall, and if they can take that back across the border to Toronto, then the Raptors will need to dig in to avoid a first round upset.
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The Bad: There isn’t much to complain about on the Pacers side of things. Not everything was perfect, but Indiana needed a Game 4 win and they got it.
MVP: Ian Mahinmi is battling a bad back, but that didn’t stop him from scoring a career-high 22 points while also grabbing 10 rebounds and handing out 5 assists. More than just scoring, he neutralized Jonas Valanciunas. The Raptors center had been averaging 14.7 points and 16 rebounds a game coming into Game 4 but was limited to 6 rebounds and 14 points. Turner helped out in slowing Valanciunas by grabbing 7 rebounds, but the Indiana Pacers success near the rim was driven by Mahinmi.
Can you guess who set a career-high in points and won and whose team lost? (via @TimDonahue8p9s) pic.twitter.com/QkDl6aDPb3
— Ben Gibson (@CowboyOnPatrol) April 23, 2016
X-Factor: Aggressive George Hill™ made is presence known and tied Mahinmi with 22 points as well as 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Hill shot 9 of 11 from the field and 2 of 4 from beyond the arc and set the tone early for Indiana by nailing a corner 3-pointer to get things started on Saturday. He also brought it early on defense and contained Kyle Lowry.
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A+
The more Aggressive George Hill™, the better for the Pacers.
"Mid-Range"