The Indiana Pacers will try their hand at snapping the Toronto Raptors’ 12-game winning streak in Friday’s anticipated showdown between the Eastern Conference foes. Since dropping a one-point loss to the San Antonio Spurs back in mid-January, it has been nothing but victory laps for the streaking Raptors. They recently eked out a 119-118 victory over the Pacers after overcoming a 19-point deficit on Thursday.
Raptors set a franchise record
There is an overflowing river somewhere out there, filled with bad takes regarding the Raptors in the aftermath of Kawhi Leonard’s departure. Wednesday’s win over the Pacers marked the 12th consecutive victory for the Raptors, which set a new franchise record. It took a 19-point comeback and a game-winning 3-pointer from Serge Ibaka to pull off the monumental feat.
Can they do it again?
That’ll be the headlining question in Friday’s rematch with the Pacers. The lack of quality defense has been the biggest question mark for Indiana since Victor Oladipo returned. It’s surprising considering they are the 11th-ranked defensive team in the league. Yet, they still managed to allow the Raptors to score 119 points and shoot 50.0 percent from the floor.
Toronto is averaging 112.7 points per game with the offense running predominantly through burgeoning superstar Pascal Siakam. However, it was Kyle Lowry that stole the show against the Pacers with a game-high 32-point performance. He’ll be looking for a repeat showing in the sequel.
The Raptors could also play better on the defensive end of the floor in the rematch. Indiana’s 15th-ranked offense shot 52.4 percent against a Raptors defense allowing an average 42.8 shooting percentage this season.
Marc Gasol has been ruled out of the game with a hamstring injury.
Oladipo starting didn’t matter for the Pacers
It was like the good, old days for the Pacers with Victor Oladipo back in the starting lineup. He was the one missing piece that the team hoped would put them over the top as legitimate Eastern Conference contenders once he returned from his quad injury.
But the Pacers have lost their last three consecutive games, and one of those losses came to a bad Knicks team at home. The loss to the Raptors was even more disappointing considering they were ahead by as many as 19 points and still found a way to lose. It probably didn’t help that they turned the ball over 19 times.
They’ll try to correct those issues with the rematch being in their home building on Friday. It’ll still be tough sledding against a Raptors defense ranking second in the league in efficiency. Indiana may not score a lot of points on average, but they are shooting 47.6 percent from the floor and exceptionally more dangerous with Oladipo playing. It’s only a matter of time before everything comes together.
The Raptors being loaded with sharpshooters puts extra pressure on the Pacers to succeed on defense. They have to get stops down the stretch and continue to win on the boards to prevent Toronto from getting second-chance shot opportunities.
The team could opt to rest Oladipo in the rematch, while T.J. Warren is listed as questionable and still recovering from a concussion.
