The Indiana Pacers tied up their first round series against the Toronto Raptors after a blowout game four win. With a final score of 100 to 83, Indiana was able to get the win at home and continue making this series interesting. Toronto never held a lead or a tie in the game.
The Pacers came out strong after losing the last two games of the series. Head coach Frank Vogel made a pre-game adjustment by starting rookie Myles Turner and its positive effects showed early. Despite a mediocre stat-line (two points, one rebound, one assists, and one block in the first quarter), Turner’s impact was felt all over as the two-big-man lineup of the Pacers led to Raptors’ center Jonas Valanciunas having a slow start after multiple games of being Toronto’s best player.
Additionally, the Pacers seemed to be intent of playing fast, routinely getting into their offense quickly. That allowed them to beat the Raptors’ ultra-aggressive defense on multiple occasions to get good looks at the rim and behind the arc. Meanwhile, the Raptors did the opposite, oftentimes getting into their offensive sets too late. That was among the biggest factors in the first half as the Pacers leaped to a huge lead.
Notably, Toronto head coach Dwane Casey made some interesting lineup choices. Luis Scola, a negative player in every game of this series, so far, played a ton of minutes in the first half and was noticeably beat on defense by the Pacers on multiple occasions. Additionally, Casey did not play rookie Norman Powell until very late in the second quarter when he proceeded to immediately score five points straight to lead a late Raptors’ surge going into halftime. As the only Toronto player with a positive plus-minus rating, Powell’s late-half play was instrumental in allowing Toronto to keep the game within 15 points at half-time.
Turnovers killed the Raptors in the first half. The team finished with 19 for the game compared to the Pacers’ 12.
The third quarter saw Valanciunas come alive, scoring the ball in the point off of passes and offensive rebounds. However, he was the only impact player on the offensive end for Toronto as Kyle Lowry and especially DeMar DeRozan continued their poor shooting. The Raptors’ defense, however, was strong and with help from some misses by Indiana, they were able to keep the Pacers to 16 points and keep the deficit at 15 going into the pivotal fourth quarter.
Despite having difficulty scoring, the Raptors used a faster offense to cut into the Pacers’ lead in the fourth. But in the end, the Pacers had too much Paul George (19 points, four rebounds, two assists, one steal), George Hill (22 points, four rebounds, three assists), and Ian Mahinmi (22 points, ten rebounds, five assists, two steals, one block), never letting Toronto cut the lead to single digits. The Raptors’ shooting woes, especially from DeRozan who has struggled mightily in this series, were too much to overcome, and Indiana was able to tie up the series in another blow-out win. With frustrations high, some pushing and shoving between Valanciunas and George occurred late in the game, leaving some hope for a more competitive matchup in game five.
Game five will be played on Tuesday in Toronto.
