The Toronto Raptors are looking to finish Saturday with their first 3-1 series lead in franchise history. To do it, they will have to win its second straight on the road against the Indiana Pacers. Game 3 was a rout in favour of the Dinos, resulting in a thorough 101-85 victory.
Despite the lopsided results of Game 3, the Pacers will undoubtedly put up a reasonable fight in Game 4. Going down 3-1 in an NBA best-of-seven series is a death sentence, and Indiana isn’t going to give up after two humiliating losses.
My vote for tonight’s Ford©/BMO©/Tostitos Fiesta Bowl© Key Matchup is the fans. Thursday’s Game 3 saw Pacers fans flooding out of Bankers Life Fieldhouse with five minutes left in the game. By the final horn, Indiana’s home court was flooded with Raptors fans chanting “#WeTheNorth.”
In the words of the Indianapolis Star‘s Candace Buckner:
On the bright side, this debacle wasn’t watched by a full house. It was announced as a sellout, but I’m telling you: Not even close. The gold T-shirts laid out on each chair disguised just how many seats were empty — until fans started taking those free shirts, exposing hundreds of green chairs, including most of three entire sections behind one basket.
This was a bad night all around, I’m saying, and not just for the home team — but for the home crowd. The empty seats, the rubber ball thrown from the crowd that hit the opposing coach in the head, and then the moment when this crowd surrendered. It happened with 5:26 left, when Kyle Lowry hit a 3-pointer at the shot-clock buzzer to give the Raptors an 88-69 lead.
Word is, there will be a few more Raptors fans at this afternoon’s matchup, as the weekend game allows fans to make the trek down to Indianapolis without missing work, school, etc. Pacers fans, given both their own performance and the performance of their team in Game 3, will surely take exception to the flood of loud Canadians invading their city and arena. It’ll be like the war of 1812 all over again.
Cage’s Keys
Jump on ’em early
The Raptors should expect both the opponent and their fans to jump out of the gate with intensity and energy. It’s important to squash that early, taking the crowd out of it and deflating the Pacers’ starting lineup. DeMar DeRozan needs to come out and play the same way he did in the first quarter on Thursday, taking away Indiana’s defensive confidence.
This same advice goes for the beginning of the third. The Raptors tend to have slow starts to second halves, including in Game 3, when the Raptors allowed the Pacers to reduce the lead down to 12 and regain some confidence. It’s important for the Raptors to play with killer instinct. They should also play Killer Instinct, the dope Super Nintendo fighting game from 1994, but that can wait till after the playoffs.
Continue blitzing the paint
The Raptors have been at their best when they get into the paint. Whether it’s Bismack Biyombo and Jonas Valanciunas dunking on fools, Kyle Lowry penetrating and dishing or Cory Joseph defying the laws of time and space, the paint is where the Raptors have made their money this series.
This has become even more of a focal point as Pacers rim protector Ian Mahinmi‘s health has come into question. The centre has a lower-back sprain which has kept him out of practices, and coach Frank Vogel said that he wouldn’t be playing if it was the regular season. There’s no room for Toronto to feel bad for him. Despite being a solid shot blocker and defensive anchor, he has trouble with Lowry, Valanciunas and other Raptors when he’s healthy, compound that with his lower back issue, and you have an exploitable weakness in the low post.
Work work work work work work
The Raptors have the considerable talent advantage in this series, but that’s often not enough to pull out wins against tough defensive opponents like Indiana. The Raptors are at their best when they’re hustling for every 50/50 ball, pestering their opposition on defence, and generally sweating a lot.
The Raptors can’t afford to get comfortable, the series is far from over. It all starts with the leadership of Lowry, who is the team’s go-to for showing up out of nowhere to grab loose balls. The team goes as he goes, if he’s out there hustling every day like Rick Ross, then the rest of the team will follow suit.
X-Factor: Lowry’s leadership
Building on that last point, it’s Lowry’s responsibility to make sure his Raptors don’t get soft. The team is coming off two relatively stress-free wins, and probably feels pretty (deservedly) confident. It’s games like this one that prove what teams are made of. The Raptors can’t get complacent. Allowing Indiana to gain confidence at this point could be a massive momentum builder heading back to Toronto for Game 5.
It’s time for Raptors to push Indiana to the brink.
Follow Matt Jamieson on Twitter at @mattjamieson12
