Pacers-Raptors Preview
By TYLER SMITH (@TylerSmith_ISL)
ISL Editor
(Photo by Pacers Sports and Entertainment)
After finishing the regular season with a record of 45-37, the No.7-seed Indiana Pacers will face the No.2-seed Toronto Raptors in the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Game One will take place Saturday afternoon in Toronto. Here is our series breakdown and preview:
Season Series- Toronto won three of the four regular season match-ups, including winning both games at home. These two teams kicked off the regular season on October 28th, with the Raptors winning 106-99. The Pacers played well in both home games against Toronto, winning 106-90 in December, and losing in Overtime at home against Toronto in March.
Home Court Advantage- Not only did Toronto finish 32-9 at home this season, but the Pacers haven’t won in their building since March of 2013. In their last meeting, the Raptors were resting starters and still beat Indiana on their home court. To make things even more difficult, the Pacers were just 19-22 away from home this season.
Playoff History- The Pacers are back in the playoffs after missing out last season, largely due to the fact that Paul George was injured. Frank Vogel has won each of the last three first-round playoff series’ that he’s coached in Indiana. This is a much different group than the team he had two seasons ago, however. The Raptors won more than 50 games for the first time in franchise history this season. They’re in a good position to make some noise in the playoffs, but things haven’t gone well in the postseason for them. They’ve lost in the first-round in each of the last two seasons, and were favored to win both times. As a franchise, they’ve only made it out of the first-round one time, which was back in 2001 when the first-round series’ were still only five games.
Crunch Time- Winning down the stretch was the achilles heel for the Pacers this season. They lost 20 games this season after owning a 4th-quarter lead. They were also just 1-7 in Overtime games. Toronto had some early-season struggles in tight games, but really improved over the course of the season. So many playoff games are decided in crunch time, so you’d have to figure the Raptors would hold the edge here. On the bright side for Indiana, they do have Paul George, and he has played very well at times down the stretch in previous playoff games.
Keys to Victory- Indiana has a chance to make this a close series, but they’ll need to win one of the first two games in Toronto, which is no easy task. If they could take Game One, it might send Toronto down a memory lane of recent years and give the Pacers an edge. Paul George needs to have a monster series, but he can’t do it alone. The Pacers were 16-8 this year when two players scored 20 or more points in the same game. George will need some help if the Pacers are going to pull off the upset. In the past, Frank Vogel teams have seemed to thrive with the underdog mentality. Another key for the Pacers will be the turnover story. Only six teams take care of the ball better than Toronto, but the Pacers need to force turnovers to be successful. Indiana led the NBA in points off-turnovers and they’ll need the Raptors to commit their fair share in this series to have a chance.
Team Comparison-
| Offensive Stats | ||||||||||||
| TEAM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | FG% | FT% | 3PT% | ||||
| Indiana | 102.2 | 44.2 | 21.2 | 9.05 | 4.77 | 44.98 | 76.39 | 35.10 | ||||
| Toronto | 102.7 | 43.4 | 18.7 | 7.76 | 5.48 | 45.07 | 77.72 | 36.97 | ||||
| Defensive Stats | ||||||||||||
| TEAM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | FG% | FT% | 3PT% | ||||
| Indiana | 100.5 | 44.5 | 20.8 | 7.73 | 4.46 | 44.03 | 75.12 | 33.37 | ||||
| Toronto | 98.2 | 40.8 | 21.7 | 6.51 | 5.39 | 44.43 | 74.85 | 37.30 | ||||
Series Schedule-
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Apr 16 – NBA Playoffs First Round, Game 1
 Pacers |
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12:30 PM
Raptors
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Apr 18 – NBA Playoffs First Round, Game 2
Pacers |
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7:00 PM
Raptors
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Apr 21 – NBA Playoffs First Round, Game 3
Raptors |
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7:30 PM
Pacers
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Apr 23 – NBA Playoffs First Round, Game 4
Raptors |
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3:00 PM
Pacers
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Apr 26 – NBA Playoffs First Round, Game 5
Pacers |
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TBD
Raptors
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Apr 29 – NBA Playoffs First Round, Game 6
Raptors |
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TBD
Pacers
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May 1 – NBA Playoffs First Round, Game 7
Pacers |
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TBD
Raptors
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Series Prediction- I don’t believe the Raptors are a much better team than Indiana, but the Pacers haven’t been trustworthy enough this season to pick them for the series. Toronto has also been a very tough place for the Pacers to play in recent years. Final Prediction= Raptors in 6.
