Post-Game Grades: Raptors defend the North, beat the Pacers
By Ben Gibson
Victor Oladipo and Myles Turner lead the way, but no one really followed them in the Indiana Pacers loss to the Toronto Raptors.
120. 81. 115. 100. Final
The Toronto Raptors evened the season series with their win over the Indiana Pacers on Friday night. Victor Oladipo and Myles Turner showed up north of the border, but the rest of the roster got held up at customs.
While Bojan Bogdanovic and Lance Stephenson put up respectable peformances, there wasn’t enough firepower — or defense — to keep the Raptors from besting them. Games like this serve as reminders that this team is good, but not great.
They’ll struggle against the NBA’s best teams because their supceptable to nights like this. While guys like Thaddeus Young are steady peformers, the Raptors show that the right matchups and talent can leave them out of sorts. It should be noted that the Raptors took Oladipo out of the game in the fourth as he went 0 of 4 from the field, though his 5 for 5 performance on foul shots made up for it.
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- 2 positives, 3 negatives from first week of Indiana Pacers basketball
- Should Isaiah Jackson’s days with Indiana Pacers be numbered?
Indiana is at it’s best when they are running and gunning, but Toronto had the Pacers going 1 of 11 from 3-point range in the fourth quarter. The Pacers didn’t do much better closer to the basket, either. Indiana rushed too many shots, giving away a number of chances to close the gap in the final minutes.
We’ll see how the rest of December goes, but losing on the road to the Raptors isn’t the worst thing, either.
The Good: Oladipo, Turner, Stephenson, and T.J. Leaf went a combined 28 of 46 (60.9%) from the field as they made more than half their shots.
The Bad: The rest of the roster was 17 of 56 (30.4%). We know the Pacers defense is average, at best, so when most of the team struggles offensively, they’re going to have a bad time.
MVP: Gotta be Oladipo. 36 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks. The man is a threat to get a 5×5 if he keeps this up.
LVP: Domantas Sabonis and Cory Joseph were a combined 4 of 19, but perhaps CoJo gets the edge in the LVP race thanks to his poor defense against his former team. IS HE A SLEEPER AGENT? WE REPORT, YOU DECIDED.
X-Factor: Myles and Bojan were the only other Pacers with a positive +/- outside of Oladipo, but Turner’s offense came to Canada while Bogdanovic’s did not. Turner was 7 of 11 on the night, including 1 of 3 on 3-pointers.
17 points is certainly a good night, but unforunately that wasn’t enough to keep up with Toronto.
C-. Questionable fouls, questionable shots. 16 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds.. PG. Indiana Pacers. DARREN COLLISON
A. What else do you want from him?. SG. Indiana Pacers. VICTOR OLADIPO
SF. Indiana Pacers. BOJAN BOGDANOVIC. D. Shooters gotta shoot, but they also need to make them. 2 for 11 on the night. 6 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists.
PF. Indiana Pacers. THADDEUS YOUNG. C. Some of his shots just didn’t fall, but his defense wasn’t at his normal level, either. 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists.
B+. 17 points and 6 rebounds, but the only possible complaint is he didn’t shoot enough considering how poorly some of his teammates were doing.. C. Indiana Pacers. MYLES TURNER
Indiana Pacers. DOMANTAS SABONIS. C-. Sub-optimal Sabonis had 6 rebounds and 8 points on 2 of 10 shooting.. C
B. Nothing special tonight, but he made half his shots on his way to 11 points.. SG. Indiana Pacers. LANCE STEPHENSON
Indiana Pacers. CORY JOSEPH. 🍁. DID HE COLLUDE WITH THE RAPTORS?. PG
Saw the floor and made 2 of his 3 shots. 4 points and 2 rebounds.. PF. Indiana Pacers. TJ LEAF. C
The Pacers take the weekend off before hosting the New York Knicks on Monday night.