Game Thread: Toronto Raptors at Indiana Pacers

The Toronto Raptors cap off their road trip with a post-Thanksgiving Day (American) meeting with the Indiana Pacers. Winners of two of their last three games, have the Raptors turned the corner (again)?

The Raptors started the season with a half-court offense that could make former Raptors coach Kevin O’Neill blush and had to rely on their aggressive defense to keep them in the game. However, these past 8-9 games flipped the script. The Raptors are now near the top of offensive rating, tied with Miami Heat for 6th overall (110.6 OFF RTG), but they’ve plummeted defensively, posting a 110 DEF RTG, which is good for 24th in the league.

In the second half against the Memphis Grizzlies the other night, everything clicked defensively for the Raptors. If they can get their defense anywhere near where they were earlier this season, the Raptors are on the right track as their offense is starting to come along.

Khem Birch will miss tonight’s game due to knee swelling, and OG Anunoby will miss his fifth straight with a hip contusion. Yuta Watanabe is also out as of this writing. What kind of Raptors will we see tonight? I guess we’ll have to tune in and find out!

Where to Watch:

TSN4, 8:00 PM EST

Lineups:

Toronto – Fred VanVleet, Gary Trent Jr., Scottie Barnes, Pascal Siakam, Precious Achiuwa

Indiana – Justin Holiday, Domantas Sabonis, Myles Turner, Caris LeVert, Malcolm Brogdon

Injuries:

Toronto – OG Anunoby (hip – out), Khem Birch (knee – out), Yuta Watanabe (calf – out)

Indiana – TJ Warren (foot – out)