The Toronto Raptors defeated the Indiana Pacers 106-94 at the Air Canada Centre on Friday night. The Raptors are now 4-3 without their all-star DeMar DeRozan and the Pacers have now lost their last seven consecutive games. Toronto improved to 17-6 and have been at the top of the Eastern Conference for 27 straight days.
The team was well supported once again by the hometown fans. So far this season, Toronto is ranked sixth in the NBA with an average attendance of 19,648 fans at each home game. However some people believe they should rank higher than sixth overall.
For the second straight game Landry Fields started in place of the injured DeRozan. He had another solid outing for the Raptors and finished the game with 8 points on 2-of-4 shooting and 2 rebounds in 21 minutes of action.
Jonas Valanciunas continued to play well early in games and had 6 points and 5 rebounds in the opening quarter. He recorded his third straight and seventh double-double of the season with 10 points and 14 rebounds in the game. Although he struggled shooting the ball against Indiana’s bigs making only 3-of-12 shots from the floor.
The Raptors jumped out to an early lead, but it was C.J. Watson who kept the Pacers in the game. He scored seven of Indiana’s first fourteen points although despite his best efforts Toronto was up 28-20 after the first.
The Raptors also committed an uncharacteristically high number of turnovers in the first quarter. They are currently tied for second in the NBA with an average of 11.7 turnovers per game. Toronto had 5 turnovers in the opening quarter however they did take better care of the ball the rest of the game and finished with only 10 turnovers.
At the end of the first and in the second quarter it was Lou Williams who provided scoring off the bench. He scored 14 of his game high 26 points in the first half of the game and shot the ball efficiently making 9-of-18 overall, a perfect 3-of-3 from the free throw line and 5-of-7 from three.
The Raptors were up double digits at halftime and then in the first minute of the third quarter Pacers’ starting center Roy Hibbert picked up his fourth foul. He was forced to play with caution which led to a pair of easy buckets in the paint by Amir Johnson that were assisted by Kyle Lowry.
Kyle Lowry had a solid performance for the Raptors with 9 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds in only 26 minutes of action. He played limited minutes in the game, but the set the tone early for the team.
Lowry left the game with about three minutes left in the third quarter and did not return. It wasn’t because of an injury, instead the Raptors bench was able to take control of the game in the fourth which gave Toronto’s leader some much needed rest considering he has played heavy minutes since the DeRozan injury.
Greivis Vasquez was 0-of-5 from the field until he led the Raptors bench in the final quarter. He found his shooting stroke and finished the game with 10 points and 4 assists. Vasquez even had an unlikely block on the defensive end.
James Johnson was a big factor off the bench for the Raptors. He scored an efficient 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting and was a plus 19 points in 15 minutes of playing time. He also electrified the crowd with a huge jam that sealed the Raptors’ victory.
The story of the game was the Raptors’ bench which finished the game with a season high 64 points. Toronto had five players who finished the game in double figures and four of them were their reserves — Lou Williams(26), James Johnson(13), Patrick Patterson (11), and Greivis Vasquez (10).
The Raptors took care of business against a struggling Pacers team and they have a favourable schedule coming up. In the next five games, their opponents — the Orlando Magic, Brooklyn Nets, Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks twice — have a combined winning percentage of .388 and a combined record of 26-67 so far this season.
Next up for the Raptors they travel to New York to take on the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks snapped a ten game losing streak with a 101-95 win against the Boston Celtics last night. The Raptors are 2-0 against teams in their division so far and will try to stay undefeated against Atlantic Division opponents.
EZ Bucket 