Post-Game 5 Breakdown: On that crazy Raptors run

The Raptors won Game 5! It came down to a last second shot not counting, but they won. And in the most unusual fashion. Let's take a look at just how and why it happened.

A Massive Run

That 4th quarter run was something, huh? The Raptors ran out two lineup's in the 4th Q -- Biyombo, Powell, Joseph, Lowry and one of DeMar and Ross. The DeRozan lineup took the first three minutes of the 4th, handling Indiana's all-bench unit (which Frank Vogel for some reason continues to run out there, in spite of lineups with neither Paul George nor George Hill being a combined -27 in 49 minutes). They cut the 13 point lead to 9 within three minutes.

The Ross lineup then stepped in and continued the run, except even more so and with George and Hill back in there. By the time DeRozan checked back in with five minutes left, the Raptors had tied it up. That closing lineup would then of course go on to take the lead and never relinquish it. Thank goodness for that game clock running out.

Ultimately that run amounted to a 21-2 run and a 25-9 fourth quarter. We the fourth, indeed.

Patterson Struggles Starting?

Well, no. Well, kind of. He definitely struggled, but not so much with the starters.

The starting unit was practically a break even unit (-2 in 16 minutes) in spite of Jonas Valanciunas forgetting how to play basketball for the first three minutes of the game (four turnovers including three in the first 1:12). The offense ran very smoothly, as you'd expect from a JV-PP frontline, but the defense was a disaster (largely because of those JV turnovers leading to six fast break points).

Where Patterson really struggled this game was beside Biyombo. He played beside the backup big man for seven minutes and the pair posted a brutal -88 net rating (meaning they were -15 in those 7 minutes).

With how successful that super small lineup was with Biyombo at centre, it will be interesting to see if Casey restricts Patterson to playing beside Valanciunas and lets the glut of wings the Raptors have take care of the backup PF minutes beside Biyombo.

DeMar had a Good Game

DeMar DeRozan, at the very least, found his scoring touch. He shot close to 50% from the field (10/22, including 2/4 from three), got to the line a ton (12/13), and posted 34 points. That's pretty great for a guy who had posted a total of 53 points through the first four games, took 71 shots to do it, and had only attempted 15 FTA's. Big game from him.

The emphasis on the team game still wasn't there (only two assists on the game), but if he is scoring, it opens up so much for the rest of his teammates.

Biyombo on the Boards

This is what happens when you take a small ball lineup, throw in a monster on the glass like Biyombo, and combine that with a team like the Pacers going cold to the tune of nine points in a quarter: You get an insane rebounding performance. Biyombo grabbed a full 34% of all the rebounds available (that's on both ends) while on the court this game, including over 50% of all available defensive rebounds himself.

He and Valanciunas both posted impressive offensive rebounding numbers (both above 15% for the game) as well.

Any other interesting stats from one of the strangest playoff games we've seen in quite some time?

All stats per NBA.com.