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The Indiana Pacers had just undergone a heartbreaking last-second loss at the hands of an unexpected Cavaliers, and now they had to fly to play the league-best Raptors. The Pacers effort was not dampened as the game went down to the wire again, but the result carried over.
Fred Van Vleet hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 25 seconds left, and the Raptors, somehow rallied from a 17-point deficit to beat the Pacers 99-96. After winning seven straight wins, the Pacers have suddenly dropped two straight, having trouble in closing games apparently.
Toronto had dropped a couple to Trailblazers and the Nuggets coming into this one, but managed to pull this one through, much to the delight of the fans at Scotiabank Arena. This win takes their season record to an even impressive 24-9(0.727) on the season.
The Pacers were firm on the 3rd before dropping two in quick succession, and they now find themselves at the 4th spot on the East leaderboard with a 20-12 record, 3.5 games behind the leading Raptors.
Let's draw some key takeaways from this gut-wrenching Pacers loss on Raptors soil.
#1 Kawhi Leonard's clutch two-way game is scaling new heights.
Kawhi has scored 28, 29 and 28 respectively in his last three games, and is averaging almost 30 points per game in December. Along with his offensive prowess, he has made sure to keep in check his defensive abilities, finishing with four steals in this game alone.
The former Defensive Player of the year already had three steals by halftime, and also dished out six assists before the game ended. He has been putting up a strong case for his MVP bid this season, leading the Raptors to a league-best record.
For this game in particular, he finished with a double-double of 28 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 11-of-23 from the field, to lead the injury-riddled Raptors (24-9), who were playing without all-star point guard Kyle Lowry and big man Serge Ibaka.
The Claw hounded Victor Oladipo, Tyreke Evans, and anyone else on defense, foolish enough to move near him.
#2 The Pacers outscored the Raptors from the three-point line, but couldn't capitalize
The Indiana Pacers are one of the top five shooting teams in the league right now, in terms of three-point shooting percentage, and despite losing in this game, they did not disappoint.
They attempted 20 three-pointers against the Raptors and made nine of them, bringing their conversion rate to a decent 45% for the game. Bogdanovic shot 3-of-6 while the rest of the team
The Raptors could only manage an anemic 7-of-30 from three, good for 23 percent on the night. Lethal shooters in Kawhi & Danny Green could also combine to drop only 1-of-9 from deep. If it wasn't for Van Vleet's(3-6) final three in the last minute of the game, it would have been a fairly subpar night for Toronto from beyond the arc underlined by a probable loss.
#3 Toronto Raptors' game-changing defense is something all the other teams should take note of
Every one of the Raptors starters contributed with at least one steal on the defensive end, led by Leonard's four for the night. There might have been a missed call on Bogdanovic at the end as he was attempting for the game-tying three, but the Pacers could only score 11 points in the final quarter, so that's something that hurt them more.
"We got out of the flow. They picked it up on the defensive end. They executed. They put the ball in their superstar's hand and he made plays," Thaddeus Young of the Pacers said of Leonard. "It's as simple as that. We can say what we want about there's a foul that should've been called but we had a 12-, 13-point lead in the fourth."
The Raptors finished the game with an imposing total of 15 steals and seven blocks, forcing the visitors to commit 23 turnovers.
Even without Lowry and Ibaka, the Raptors managed to put on the brakes on an offensively efficient Pacers unit. Indiana's miserable turnover total of 23, included six by Oladipo and five from fellow guard Darren Collison.
"Their pressure bothered us," said Pacers coach Nate McMillan of his team's 23 turnovers. "Poor execution down the stretch. Too many turnovers. You've got to execute down the stretch offensively and protect the basketball."
