RaptorsHQ Rapid Recap - Indiana Pacers 95 - Toronto Raptors 90

by Adam Francis on Jan 13, 2012 10:31 PM EST in Raptors Rapid Recap - 2010/11

-No Andrea Bargnani, no problem? Not quite, but the Toronto Raptors fought the Indiana Pacers tooth and nail before free-throws did them in, in an eventual 95 to 90 loss. The loss was the Raptors' third straight, and second loss this season to the Pacers in a similar, close fashion.

-Toronto didn't have Andrea Bargnani tonight due to injury, but that didn't seem to be an issue to start the game. DeMar DeRozan came out firing, pouring in 14 of the Raptors' 27 first-quarter points. DeMar's burst, along with some aggressive play by his teammates, helped the Dinos to a 16 point lead at one point, as the Pacers could do nothing right. Indiana repeatedly turned the ball over, settled for poor shots, and fought with the referees at nearly every opportunity, eventually resulting in Danny Granger getting ejected.

-However Pacers' coach Frank Vogel settled his team down after that and had them attack the Raptors' undersized interior. This allowed the Pacers to creep back into the match, and by halftime the Raps were only up by five. The five point lead continued to dwindle in the third as DeMar DeRozan was nowhere to be found, and it took another lightning bolt outing from Leandro Barbosa to keep this one close.

-The Raptors did indeed keep it close though, and from the end of the third to about 20 seconds left in the game, the lead changed about 15 times. Finally, with the score knotted at 20, and the Pacers with the ball, Amir Johnson fouled David West giving him two free-throws. West hit one of two, but the Pacers grabbed the offensive rebound off his second shot, and Amir Johnson fouled Tyler Hansbrough, giving Indiana another shot at extending their lead.

-Hansbrough hit both, and then it was Jamaal Magloire time.

-Magloire had to sub in for Amir Johnson, who had fouled out on the previous play, and with the career 64 per cent free throw shooter on the court, the Pacers quickly took a page out of Mark Jackson's book, and sent the Big Cat to the line.

-And yep, he missed both.

-Better yet, he completely airballed the first one, and the second, well, it wasn't very close to dropping either.

-In the end, the game wasn't lost on Magloire's free-throws alone of course, but had he hit them, Toronto could have extended the match.

-Instead, this was another tough one for fans to stomach, and now the Dinos have to turn around and face the even tougher Chicago Bulls tomorrow night, in Chicago.

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I don't think

the Raps had any problems without Andrea last night. The offense was solid, but it was the turnovers that really hurt. The turnovers were something like 7-2 in favour of Toronto in the first quarter then they finished 17 – 16 in Indiana’s favour.

All and all a solid game though. Hope most of the losses are like that.

by Not so Friendly Stranger on Jan 13, 2012 11:04 PM EST reply actions

question

anyone else think Forbes looked much better playing PG than playing the wing? Aside from that terrible pass to no one, that was probably his best game to date.

by Not so Friendly Stranger on Jan 13, 2012 11:06 PM EST reply actions

Whether he’s playing point guard or one of the wings, Forbes makes a helluva lot more sense than Rasual Butler. I’m completely confused by Casey’s motivation for playing Butler at all. It’s a rebuilding year – play the young guys and let them learn from their mistakes. This is the year to do it, not when you are legitimately contending for a playoff spot.

by RaptorsHQ - Defensive Stance on Jan 14, 2012 12:06 AM EST up reply actions

Maybe they are not working hard enough in practice? Who knows why this team does anything, its not like people are coming down hard on BC for signing him and thus they need to justify it by playing him.

by McGateway on Jan 14, 2012 12:32 AM EST up reply actions

Rasual Butler + Jamaal Magloire

the ‘tank’ signings that are paying dividens right now.

Rasual – a blistering 25% from the floor!

Magloire – do they have a stat for unnecessary fouls that get the opposition motivated?

by Not so Friendly Stranger on Jan 14, 2012 7:06 AM EST up reply actions

Rasual Butler

= ping pong balls

As the season progresses, new opportunities will emerge for players like Forbes. Make him earn it and want it instead of just giving it to him perhaps? Butler knows the system better and is performing better in practice right now? I am just guessing.

This was a perfect game in a way. We didn’t have Andrea, and we still played good. In the end we still shoulda coulda woulda’d it away, which sucks but equals ping pong balls. DD showed life. Ed is back in a little way. Kept them under 100 points. The system is being learned…….

Once the playoffs are out of contention it will be important that we use the games to develop players and do not focus too heavily on winning. It doesn’t mean lose, it just means don’t stretch Andrea’s minutes to 41 in a meaningless game near the end of the season. Concentrate on player development, not winning. Win at least 11 games, but not more than 20.

Pound the rock, but don’t bash your head against it. Building a contender from where we were at the end of last season could take time. If we lose enough games this year and we get the right pick in the draft, we could be the most exciting young team in the NBA.

And if DD and Ed play better, and JV and ? are studs, we are looking awesome…as far as potential is concerned. Go Raps. More games like this one please.

by defensive rap on Jan 14, 2012 3:11 AM EST reply actions

And Detroit and NJ won as well

Yeah!!!

by defensive rap on Jan 14, 2012 3:16 AM EST reply actions

I must have missed the part of the fourth quarter where the game was tied at 20?

LOL, that must have been one heck of a scoring run to have it end up near 100…

"the Truth"

by Mikthaniel on Jan 14, 2012 4:16 AM EST reply actions

LMAO

We may have lost the game, but to have scored 70 points in 20 seconds? I don’t know if too many teams can say they can do that!

Source Unknown

"the Truth"

by Mikthaniel on Jan 14, 2012 4:18 AM EST up reply actions

Develop, Develop, Develop

Develop players first, worry about wins afterwards. I more concerned about the players current development than the ping pong balls to be honest. No point in having an elite rookie when the rest of the team can’t play around you. Change the culture of the team is another objective for the season too.

by keepit4real on Jan 14, 2012 4:24 AM EST reply actions

Random thought

as of right now Raps are 24th in the league. However Milwaukee, Phoenix, Houston and Minnesota are only one game ahead.

yes its still early, but I have been concerned that the bottom of the league is so bad Toronto may get a worse draft position by default…..

by Not so Friendly Stranger on Jan 14, 2012 7:12 AM EST reply actions

The Raps are about to go into a heavy stretch of road games...

I think some of your fears will be allayed by the 5th of Feb.

10 of the next 13 on the road, including road games against Chicago, Atlanta, Boston (twice), Clippers, Denver, Utah and then Miami. Home games against Portland and the Wizards (who housed the Raps last time they played…)

by MAS11 on Jan 14, 2012 10:33 AM EST up reply actions