Pacers fall to 1-7 in Overtime games
By TYLER SMITH
ISL Editor
INDIANAPOLIS — If you don’t count overtime games, the Pacers would have a record of 35-25. That winning percentage would be good enough for the 3-seed in the Eastern Conference. Unfortunately for them, the overtime games count. The Pacers fell to the Toronto Raptors Thursday night by a final score of 101-94 in another overtime loss. They are now just 1-7 in overtime games.
“They’re all the same,” Paul George said after the loss. “We don’t do enough. These are games we need and we don’t complete them.”
If the season ended today, the Raptors and Pacers would be a first-round playoff series. “We still feel confident about this match-up,” George said. “They just had a better game than we did.”
The Pacers had their chances to win the game in regulation. After a big steal by Solomon Hill, Monta Ellis drove and was fouled with 14.2 seconds left to play. He only made 1-of-2 at the line, which ultimately led to extra basketball. For the game, the Pacers made 16-of-23 (69.6%) from the line. They’ve hurt themselves plenty of times this season with poor foul shooting.
Paul George and George Hill led the Pacers with 18 points each, though P.G. had a rough shooting night (7-of-24 and 1-of-9 from three.)
The Pacers were without starting center Ian Mahinmi, which proved to be a big missing piece in this match-up. Toronto’s Bismack Biyombo scored 16 points and set a Toronto Raptors franchise record with 25 rebounds.
“With Ian out, they were able to penetrate more against our bigs,” Coach Frank Vogel said. “We didn’t hit him (Biyombo) enough, and well, I’ll leave it at that.”
On the plus side, the Pacers continued their solid defense of late. They held the Raptors to just 36.4% shooting on the night.
As the overtime losses continue, frustration mounts for this Pacers team. But outside of tonight the Pacers have been playing better in close games lately. “We’re growing,” Vogel said. “We’re improving. I think come playoff time, it’s going to be a strength of ours. We’ve struggled with it, but we’re improving and I think we’re going to win a playoff series because of it.”
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