Will host Raptors rebound vs. Pacers?
In danger of suffering another early-round setback, Toronto needs major help. It just didn’t bank on having to send out an APB for Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan.
The two guards are conspicuously absent at the worst possible time for the Raptors, who will try to protect their home floor in tonight’s crucial Game 5 vs. the Pacers. Oddsmakers at online sports book BetDSI trust Dwane Casey’s club as a 7-point favorite. The over/under figure sits at 193 points.
On Saturday, Lowry and DeRozan’s series-long continued to play out. The All-Stars were a combined 8 of 27 from the floor and 0 for 7 on 3-pointers. Indiana took advantage, notching a 100-83 triumph and evening the festivities in the process.
Where Toronto’s big guns keep laboring, the Pacers’ main attraction is thriving. Paul George finds himself averaging 26.3 points and nine foul shots per contest. Coach Frank Vogel’s pre-Game 4 decision to start Myles Turner ahead of Lavoy Allen paid immediate dividends in the post, too, as Indiana outrebounded the Raptors for the first time in the four tilts.
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This has been an exceedingly physical battle, so we’ll see if Toronto’s Jonas Valanciunas rises to the occasion beginning at 7 p.m ET. In any event, the second-place squad in the Central Division can’t merely wait on Lowry and DeRozan to spring back to life. There’s no margin for error now, and Casey’s crew must initiate the action at the Air Canada Centre.
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