INDIANAPOLIS ― The Raptors snapped the Pacers’ three-game winning streak Monday night 130-122 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The Pacers fell to 33-26, and their lead on Orlando and Miami for sixth place in the Eastern Conference fell to one-half. Toronto improved to 22-36.
Here are four observations.
Raptors dominate the paint
The Raptors may be in the draft lottery at the moment, but they remain dangerous because of their length, especially from positions 2-5, as well as tough drivers at point guard.
That made the Raptors tough to keep out of the paint, and the Pacers tend to struggle with teams that operate that way. Toronto outscored the Pacers 78-50 in the paint and got strong performances from all of their wings.
All-Star Scottie Barnes posted a triple-double with 21 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists. R.J. Barrett scored 24 points, Gary Trent Jr. had 11 and center Jakob Poetl had 15 and 10 rebounds. The Pacers hung with the Raptors on the glass, but they didn’t overcome the paint discrepancy.
The Raptors lead the NBA in fast-break points — a category that the Pacers owned not long ago — with 18.7 per game and they scored 26 on Monday night to the Pacers’ 11. That had something to do with the discrepancy as most of those buckets were layups, but even when the Pacers had a set defense they had trouble stopping Toronto’s attack.
“It was kind of a you-name-it type thing,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “Transition counts as paint points. Cuts. Drives. And-1s, there were a lot of different things. We need to be better. It’s disappointing, but we gotta bounce back from it.”
Pacers forward Pascal Siakam was acquired from the Raptors in January and knows what they do well, and he saw the Pacers break down against some of Toronto’s biggest strengths.
“I think they had more energy than us today,” Siakam said. “They played faster. They got us a lot on just cuts and different things in the paint. We can’t really have that. We have to be able to stop the first action and make them go to their second and third options. It was a lot of just cuts and layups.”
Tyrese Haliburton has a brutal night
The Pacers got outstanding nights from their second- and third-leading perimeter scorers, but their ace had one of his worst nights of his season.
Two-time All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton couldn’t find the bucket at any level, scoring just nine points on 2-of-11 shooting. He was 1-of-6 from 3-point range and even missed two free throws out of six. Part of that was excellent defense, especially by guards Immanuel Quickley and Trent, but sometimes Haliburton missed shots he usually makes. He finished with seven assists against one turnover, but the Pacers were -15 with him on the floor.
“Toronto made a point of making it difficult on Tyrese,” Carlisle said. “… He had an off night too. I don’t want to give too much of the credit to them. I’ll look at the film. There’s certainly some things I could have helped our team with that I didn’t do. I’ve gotta figure out what those are and be better next game.”
Haliburton’s rare struggles made it more difficult for the Pacers to function as a whole. They shot 46% from the floor and made just 13 of 42 3-pointers. Bennedict Mathurin and Pascal Siakam helped carry them, but outside of those two players they were 24 of 63 from the floor (38.1%).
Bennedict Mathurin matches career high
As the Pacers struggled from the outside, second-year wing Bennedict Mathurin found his range and kept Indiana in it with some key outside shots.
Mathurin scored 34 points on 11-of-15 shooting, including 5-of-8 from beyond the arc. Two of those 3s came at a very necessary time in the third quarter after the Pacers had fallen behind double digits, and another tied the score at 90 early in the fourth. He also had nine rebounds, five assists and two steals.
“As the game went on and we were struggling, Mathurin’s shot-making in the second half, particularly in the third quarter, held us in the game,” Carlisle said. “We got down 12 and he single-handedly kept us in the game. He was making some hellacious and really heroic type shots.”
Mathurin is shooting 37.8% from 3-point range this season, which is a significant uptick from his 32.3% clip last season. He’s been streaky — he had made just four of his previous 15 3s prior to Monday night’s game — but as a whole he’s more confident with the shot especially when he’s in rhythm.
“I was confident stepping in to my shot,” Mathurin said. “I know I work really hard so I seen the first one go in. I took the next one. The next one went in and I just kept going.”
Pascal Siakam goes off against his old team
Pascal Siakam was clearly still motivated in his second matchup against his old team. The former Raptors All-Star carried the Pacers at times in the first half and he helped Mathurin keep the Pacers in it.
Siakam finished with 27 points on 11-of-22 shooting, including 3-of-8 from 3-point range. He also recorded nine rebounds and six assists in one of his strongest all-around outings with Indiana.
“I was playing a little fast and continuing to attack,” Siakam said. “I was trying to find little mismatches and score in the paint. I think we gotta continue to do that as a team and I feel like I’m able to do that. I gotta be able to do that, and once they help it’s about making the right plays. On the second night of a back-to-back, I’m just trying to be as aggressive as I can.”
Pacers box score vs. Raptors
TORONTO (130): Barnes 8-18 5-5 21, Barrett 11-16 0-3 24, Poeltl 7-10 1-1 15, Quickley 8-16 0-0 19, Trent Jr. 5-12 0-0 11, Olynyk 2-4 2-4 7, B.Brown 1-4 0-0 2, Dick 7-9 0-0 18, Agbaji 4-7 4-4 13. Totals 53-96 12-17 130.
INDIANA (122): Mathurin 11-15 7-9 34, Siakam 11-22 2-2 27, Turner 5-8 4-6 16, Haliburton 2-11 4-6 9, Nembhard 5-14 0-0 11, McDermott 0-2 0-0 0, Toppin 2-8 0-0 4, Walker 0-1 0-0 0, Smith 4-7 0-0 9, McConnell 5-8 0-0 10, Sheppard 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 46-100 17-23 122.
TOR 30 31 29 40 — 130
IND 28 28 31 35 — 122
3-Point Goals—Toronto 12-28 (Dick 4-4, Quickley 3-7, Barrett 2-3, Agbaji 1-2, Olynyk 1-2, Trent Jr. 1-6, B.Brown 0-1, Barnes 0-3), Indiana 13-42 (Mathurin 5-8, Siakam 3-8, Turner 2-3, Smith 1-2, Nembhard 1-4, Haliburton 1-6, Walker 0-1, McDermott 0-2, Sheppard 0-3, Toppin 0-5). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Toronto 45 (Barnes 12), Indiana 43 (Turner 11). Assists_Toronto 35 (Barnes 12), Indiana 27 (Haliburton 7). Total Fouls_Toronto 17, Indiana 19. A_16,026 (20,000)
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