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Breaking Down The Indiana Pacers and Toronto Raptors Series

By Ben Gibson

Apr 23, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers guard George Hill (3) forward Solomon Hill (44) and guard Monta Ellis (11) walk back to the bench after a skirmish with the Toronto Raptors during the fourth quarter of game four of the first round of the 2016 NBA Playoffs at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Indiana defeats Toronto 100-83. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 23, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers guard George Hill (3) forward Solomon Hill (44) and guard Monta Ellis (11) walk back to the bench after a skirmish with the Toronto Raptors during the fourth quarter of game four of the first round of the 2016 NBA Playoffs at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Indiana defeats Toronto 100-83. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
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The On the NBA Beat Podcast talked with the Score’s Joseph Casciaro and 8 Points, 9 Seconds’ Ben Gibson about the Indiana Pacers and Toronto Raptors playoff series.

The Raptors and Pacers series is tied at 2-2 going into Game 5, with Indiana surprisingly keeping things close despite two ugly losses.

The On the NBA Beat podcast brought in one expert, the Score’s Joseph Casciaro, and also yours truly, to talk about Game 5, and what we’ve seen so far in the series.

A few of the highlights include Casciaro’s comments on the Raptors inferiority complex, and how that still haunts Toronto.

More from 8 Points, 9 Seconds

"“The last couple years, the Raptors have embraced that with the whole “We, the North” thing and using the outsider mentality as a source of strength, but at the back of everyone’s mind is still this angst about the playoff ghosts and the demons and ‘Are they truly relevant, can they be relevant unless they make a deep run?’ and ‘Are they even good enough to make a deep run?’ Despite the regular-season success – and they have been one of the more consistent teams over the last three years – if you can’t get out of the first round after all this, something with the fabric of your team is obviously wrong.”"

For my own two cents, I mentioned that Indiana’s a matchup nightmare for Toronto and when the Pacers and Paul George get points from a second player, they have a fighting chance.

"“The defense has essentially done what they were supposed to do. We knew going into the series that the Raptors needed the 3 ball and that the Pacers defended it well, and so far that’s been the case. I think the problem, as far as the Pacers keeping things going, is not having anyone outside of Paul George that you can seem to rely on night to night for that offensive outburst…if they can get that one guy, they can win Game 5. If they don’t, it can get ugly like we saw in Games 2 and 3.”"

Data curated by PointAfter

Game 5 tips off at 7 p.m.

Next: Best of Three: Analyzing What the Pacers Must Do Now to Advance

A big thank you to Loren L. Chen, Aaron Fischman and Joshua Jonah Fischman for inviting me to their podcast.

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