Even away from Canadian soil, the Toronto Raptors continue to prove to the rest of the NBA that they’re no longer postseason pushovers. They calmly won Game 3 over the Indiana Pacers this past Saturday to take a 2-1 series lead, and appear to have bounced back well enough from their Game 1 loss.
Can the Raptors make it three wins a row, or will the Pacers feed off the Bankers Life Fieldhouse crowd on Saturday for Game 4 to even the series once again? Let’s find out more about this thrilling Eastern Conference matchup below.
After this, check out our previews for Thunder vs. Mavericks and Clippers vs. Blazers for a couple of other in-depth analyses on this weekend’s first set of NBA playoff battles.
Line: Toronto Raptors (+1.5) at Indiana Pacers (-1.5); total: 193.0 – view all NBA lines
Betting on the Toronto Raptors
Finally, the Toronto Raptors are looking like the 56-win team from the regular season that we’ve come to witness.
The Raptors’ 101-85 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Thursday shed any doubts of the team making a deep run at the playoffs. They were stunned in Game 1 at home when the Pacers upset them by 10 points, but have now answered with back-to-back double-digit victories of their own.
The prolific backcourt tandem of DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry scored 21 points apiece on Thursday. DeRozan and Lowry provided the bookend-like firepower for Toronto’s strong start and finish, with Derozan scoring 12 of his points in the first quarter and Lowry with 12 points of his own in the final frame.
DeRozan’s production from Game 3, in particular, is a welcome sign that the two-time All-Star appears to be back in top form. He only shot a combined 15-of-63 from the field and 1-of-17 from beyond the arc Games 1 and 2 combined.
In addition, the Raptors outrebounded Indiana in Game 3, 45-38, in large part due to Jonas Valanciunas’ presence down low. The seven-foot Lithuanian finished with nine points and 14 rebounds on Thursday, and is now averaging a playoff-best 16 boards per contest.
With Toronto’s terrific trio having stepped up at the most opportune time, the Raptors are on the right path again towards securing just their second-ever playoff series victory.
Betting on the Indiana Pacers
For two-straight games now, the Indiana Pacers have failed to replicate their impressive performance from their victory in the first bout of the series. They scored a season-low 36 first-half points in Game 3 this Thursday, and are shooting just 41 percent from the field and scoring just 98.4 points per 100 possessions through the first three playoff meetings with the Raptors.
As usual, Paul George led the charge for Indiana with his 25 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the night. However, PG13’s stat line actually just looks good on paper, as he only made one of eight three-point attempts, coughed up four turnovers and was called for a technical foul as well.
George wasn’t the only Pacer that was ticked off by Toronto in Game 3. Rodney Stuckey and Myles Turner were also T’d up, clearly unhappy with the results that they were getting in that contest.
It’s such a pity that some of Indiana’s players lost their composure, especially Turner. The rookie out of Texas was one of only three players that scored in double digits, finishing with 17 points and eight boards after tallying just 18 points and seven rebounds through Games 1 and 2. Turner appears like a great foil to Toronto’s Valanciunas on both ends of the floor, so Indiana isn’t totally out of this series yet for as long as key players such as he step up this Saturday.
And luckily for the Pacers, the Raptors’ road victory in Game 3 doesn’t really come that often as they are only 5-19 in playoff games played away from The Great White North. Expect a wild Indy crowd to boost the Pacers’ morale to make Game 4 a more competitive affair.
Writer’s Prediction
This time around, Toronto (+1.5) wins a close one, 91-89, at Bankers Life Fieldhouse to take a commanding 3-1 series lead.
