Listen to That’s A Rap #72: The Raptors out-pace Indiana

If there’s a way to get Fred VanVleet’s son wrapped in Serge Ibaka’s gigantic scarf, then passed around to each Raptor, it’s quite possible Toronto may never lose again!

The day before a possible playoff preview against the Indiana Pacers, Ibaka’s latest episode of Avec Classe, featuring OG Anunoby, was released to an unsuspecting fan base. The hilarity that ensued promises to be more memorable than any cow penis-eating episode of How Hungry Are You?. The highlight of the clip was an exchange about who has been “in the scarf game” longer.

Oh, right. The Raptors played too. And they won. For a 12th consecutive time. More than any Raptors team. In fact, more than any Maple Leafs or Blue Jays team! Congratulations to the Raptors for setting a city record winning streak!

On This Episode:

Not to be overlooked in the slightest with this victory, was how the Raptors won. The Pacers were up 118-108 with 2:27 to play. All-Star coach, Nick Nurse, employed his vaunted full-court press, leading to the following results on Indiana’s remaining offensive possessions:

• Turnover — shot clock violation
• Turnover — errant pass from Malcolm Brogdon leading to Myles Turn(ov)er out of bounds
• Turnover — another errant pass from Brogdon
• Victor Oladipo misses a contested floater late in the shot clock
• Oladipo missed three, followed by a turnover by (surprise) Brogdon

On the offensive end, Pascal Siakam took over like the superstar Raptor fans have been dreaming of. His aggression, exquisite footwork, and spacial awareness led to 5 points, 1 assist (on Lowry’s three), and 1 hockey assist — drawing the double-team led to a pass to Lowry, who swung to Ibaka for the game-winning triple.

Hats off to the Pacers for out-playing the Raptors for most of the game. Indiana set a franchise record 19 threes and constantly had answers when Toronto made a run — well, at least for the first 46 minutes. While Domantas Sabonis didn’t score as much as he’s accustomed to, he made his presence felt in other ways, producing his third career triple-double.

As gratifying and exhausting a win this was for Toronto, these teams have to go at it again tonight in Indiana. The Pacers probably won’t hit as many threes, but Indiana is still a tough place to play. The Raptors have lost their last two visits to Bankers Life Fieldhouse and will continue playing without Norm Powell and Marc Gasol. Over the last 4 seasons, Toronto has had 4 separate home-and-homes. The Raptors won the road game in all of those mini-series, most recently in Boston, after the Christmas Day massacre.

3:15 - Keeping Pace with Indiana

12:00 - Saboner

16:45 - The streak

23:25 - Trade Deadline talk