The Indiana Pacers had plenty of chances to win against the Toronto Raptors but an inability to get enough stops down the stretch and a last second miss led to a one-point loss by a final score of 132-131.
There were 26 total lead changes in this game with many of them coming in the 4th-quarter. The Pacers grabbed their final lead of the game on nice footwork from Tyrese Haliburton on a floater that gave them a one-point lead with 31 seconds left.
It wouldn’t last long, however, as they gave it right back four seconds later with a play the Pacers themselves ran in nearly every clutch moment during the infamous Nate Bjorkgren year: a fake handoff from the wing (a play that worked exactly one time for Domas Sabonis—the very first time it was used—but that didn’t stop Bjorkgren from continuing to call it over and over again). Scottie Barnes caught the inbounds pass and blew right by Myles Turner after the fake and got an and-1 basket.
“It was a wild game … a disappointing result,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said after the game. “At times, when we needed to be solid with the ball, and solid defensively, we had struggles at untimely moments. It cost us. All that said, with everything that happened in the last minute, we still had a shot at the end to win.”
The Raptors never relinquished the lead after that despite some effort to do so. The Pacers had a chance in the final play of the game after a pair of Gary Trent missed free throws but Buddy Hield’s deep 3-pointer was off target. Game over.
Haliburton was skipping again with four minutes remaining after hitting a 3-pointer to put the Pacers up 7. It felt like the Pacers were on their way to victory but they went scoreless for the next 100 seconds as the Raptors crept right back into the game behind a few bad shots early in the shot clock that Carlisle mentioned as plays they’ll have to learn from.
The Pacers continue to struggle to avoid fouls as the Raptors shot 14 more free throws for the game. And early in the fourth quarter, when they were finally forcing some misses from Toronto, they were unable to secure many defensive rebounds, another recurring theme of weakness for Indiana. The Raptors were +15 in rebounds in their one-point victory. They also looked helpless defending larger wings like Pascal Siakam, another unfortunately all-too-common occurrence.
Player Grades:
Tyrese Haliburton – A
I’m running out of words to describe Haliburton’s awesomeness. He was great yet again. 33 points, 16 assists. These are not normal numbers for mere mortals but they are becoming very normal for the Pacers Point God.
He was guarded most of the night by future Pacer OG Anunoby. This type of big bodied, great defender used to give him some problems. Now, it’s no different than just about anyone he comes up against.
In his 34 minutes, he made 12 of his 22 shots and 5 of 10 from deep. He looked like he was getting a bit gassed down the stretch on the second half of a back to back but he still had enough energy to put the Pacers ahead briefly with 30 seconds to go.
Defense is the only area you can criticize him much. He got beat by Malachi Flynn a few times on that end, left Anunoby open on a corner 3 late in the game that let the Raptors tie it. It felt like he was conserving energy more often on that end than usual but he still had a nice block of an Anunoby 3 in the first half.
Buddy Hield – B+
Hield continued his hot shooting from the previous night by making 6 of his first 7 3-pointers. He cooled off, however, with just 1 of his last 5 going down.
Hield scored 31 points (12 of 17) with five assists, two steals, and a block. It was a great Buddy game. His game-winning attempt felt like it came far too deep and everyone will question why they didn’t look for something closer down just one point. My guess is that was the play planned for if the Raptors made both free throws. With no timeouts, they couldn’t regroup and still managed an open shot, just would have preferred it at least be a few steps closer to the 3-point line.
Myles Turner – A-
I thought this was some of Turner’s best defense in the past couple years until he got beat badly by Barnes on the fake handoff play. It feels like he’s finding his rhythm with his rim protection and had a ridiculously high block off the backboard that quickly resulted in a Toppin layup on the other end.
He looked as aggressive as I’ve ever seen him on both ends and dunked the ball with force twice early in the first quarter. He was attacking the basket with force. He finished with 17 points (7 of 11), 8 rebounds, 2 blocks, and a steal. He was a team-high +13.
Bruce Brown: B
Pretty standard game for Brucey B. With Nembhard and Nesmith out, Brown was one of the only plus perimeter defenders on ball available tonight. He added 14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals.
Obi Toppin: B–
Toppin was efficient from the floor with his only misses coming from 3 (6 of 9 overall, 4 of 4 on 2-point attempts) but one 3 very early in the shot clock with the Pacers up 5 with 2:48 remaining was a little too quick of a trigger in that game situation. One of the late possessions the Pacers wish they had back. Only 3 rebounds on a night where the Pacers got slammed on the glass. He finished with 16 points, 2 steals, and one assist. I do enjoy Toppin’s quick decision-making and ball movement on the offensive end.
Jalen Smith: C
The whole bench got outplayed by the Raptors in this one overall. Smith did have this nasty block to go with his 8 points and 5 rebounds.
Bennedict Mathurin: D
Mathurin stuck out like a sore thumb in the first half as the guy that wasn’t in the same flow as the rest of the team offensively. The ball was moving whenever he was out of the game and offense would seem stagnant with him in it. It felt better in the second half but it still feels like he’s got a long way to go with his consistency on both ends and processing speed offensively. He scored just 5 points (2 for 7) in 24 minutes. He did have a pair of assists to go with a steal and a block.
Jordan Nwora: D+
Even this might feel too high for Nwora who went 0 for 5 from the floor and had a team-low -16 plus/minus but it felt like he played decent on the defensive end with a lot of energy. It seems like he was pressing a little too much to prove he should be in the rotation when everyone’s healthy at times. He had 3 offensive rebounds with multiple coming on his own missed shots where he became progressively more and more stubborn trying to get something to go in the basket.
TJ McConnell: C+
McConnell reluctantly took and made a 3. He’s really lost confidence in that shot that he finally seemed to figure out last season so it was good to see him make his first of the season. He had 7 points and 5 assists in 14 minutes.
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