Raps Give Up A Blizard Of 3's In Indiana

Raptors on the road for a 2nd half of a back to back and are coming off a pretty terrible performance against the Knicks. The Pacers are returning from a visit out west and they have lost the last 2 on that trip. Still at .500 though and maybe one of the early surprises of this NBA season. The Raptors are a bit of a surprise as well at 8-12 they were predicted by many to be one of the worst teams in the NBA. But they have been better than that and even have people considering the playoffs could be possible. Both the Pacers and Raptors have been spectators for the playoffs the past few seasons. One team will take a small step towards towards that goal tonight.

1st Quarter

Both teams struggle to find the hoop early. Collison got a break away score and Amir answered to make it 2-2 but it took a 1:40 to get points on the board. I mentioned in the preview Danny Granger can make 3's and he hits one here to make the game 11-6 Pacers early. But buckets by Calderon and Amir cut the lead down to just 1. But a Pacers 7-0 run capped off by a Rush three pointer would make it 18-10. Another Granger three ball and the perimeter defence is once again brutal at least early on. Pacers have built a 25-15 lead with 2:35 to play in 1st. Pacers were shooting 50% and Raps were giving up many open looks. T.J Ford was going get some extra playing time as Collison picked up 2 fouls. But Pacers were not slowing down as they had a 31-18 lead after 1.

2nd Quarter

A James Poesy open look at three off a Raptor turnover....It is raining 3's in Indiana as Dunleavy nails another 3. Just brutal effort on defence and Rush hits another 3. Jay Triano calls a time out with the score 42-21....Little Late Jay. A Barbosa 3 was like a bee bee gun going up against a machine gun at this point. Pacers were 9-13 from beyond the arc and this was getting embrassing with the score 51-29. It just wasn't getting much better. Raptors may well have lost this game already they have dug a huge hole for themselves to dig out of to the tune of 60-37. A Calderon 3 would make the lead 20. Pacers have 62 points with still 2 minutes to play. Remember what the Raptors did to the Wizards...this was the same with Raps playing the role of the Wizards. Bargnani got his first made FG with less then a minute to play in the half. Raptors were getting spanked to the tune of 68-44 at the half.

3rd Quarter

Going through the motions might be the best way to describe the Raptors effort coming out for the 2nd half. Pacers were a team that looked desperate to win and it was showing in all aspects of this game. Pacer were maintaining a 24 point advantage with the score 78-54 with 6 to play. Roy Hibbert slam made me shed a tear. He is going to be a solid big man in this league for the next 10 years barring injuries and he could have been our guy. Pacers were not playing as well had some turnovers but the Raptors were not cashing in on them but they had cut the lead to 16 on an Ed Davis bucket. Love the way this kid hits the offensive glass. Raptors still down big 78-62 but Pacers call a time out before it gets out of hand. Raptors did get a 10-1 run thrown together but even with that they were still down 15. But Pacers made their own push back run capped off with a Posey 3-ball. It was a 22 point lead heading to the 4th. 89-67 for the Pacers.

4th Quarter.

Really not a lot to say by this point the Raptor mad some small dents into the enormous lead but 102-81 with 6:43 to go it seems clear this one was done...In fact it was very clear a lot sooner than that. Brandon Rush was 6/8 from 3 point range and I believe Danielle mentioned him in Behind Enemy Lines. A good call by her. As for the Raptors nothing good about this night and they lose in huge way 124-100 as a team the Pacers were 13/26 from behind the arc.

Raptors heading into this season I had stated that the Raptors had to have effort to beat anyone in this league. The level of talent makes it a requirement. When the effort is not there you get nights like tonight. The Raptors showed little to no effort on defence and it made keeping pace on offence was next to impossible.