Raptors VS Pacers (Game 1)

Pacers lead 1-0

The Raptors have been the higher seed for the 3rd straight year and have lost game 1 for the 3rd straight year. Raptors fans can't seem to catch a break and it always seems to be because of a guy named Paul. Last year and the year before it was Paul Pierce, this year, it's Paul George. But, the reason why the Raptors lost weren't because his name is Paul. Let's take a look at the reasons for their downfall.

The Raptors controlled the boards pretty much the whole game. They ended the night with 52 rebounds as a team while the Pacers only had 38. Jonas Valanciunas was a big part of the rebounding as he had 19 boards in only 21 minutes. Valancinas also was a big factor in the Raptors pick and roll offense, which the Pacers did a very poor job defending. However, Valanciunas was in foul trouble for almost the whole game and that is why he was limited to only 21 minutes. That took away the pick and roll that the Pacers were struggling to defend. I think if Valancuinas played even 10 more minutes, it could have been a very different game.

Of course, the Raptors didn't get really any offense from their stars. DeRozan and Lowry combined for only 25 points. Both of them shot under 30% from the field and really struggled to get anything going. And Lowry did not do a good job at running the offense. He had 7 great assists, but with those assists he has 6 turnovers. The whole team has a total of 19 turnovers and had some really poor quality passes.

The team was really killed by their own shooting. The team shot 38% from the field, just 21.1 % from the 3-point line, and a really bad 68.4% from the free throw line. They left 12 points at the free throw line. The Pacers were fouling them a lot, but it didn't matter since the team wasn't converting.

The Pacers did a lot right. They had some very great 1 on 1 defenses, however, they really need to work on their pick and roll defense because the Raptors were really hurting them with it when Jonas was in, and they also need to know how to rebound off that.

Offensively, the Pacers were great in the second half. Paul George was involved so much more, in fact, he had 27 of his 33 points in the second half and shot 10-13 in the second half as well. Once the Raptors were focused on George, he did a great job at finding the open man. As for defending PG-13, the Raptors really need to get out on him and force him into the paint where the Raptors have done such a great job defending. If you take a look at George's shot chart below, you will see just how bad he was in the paint. The Raptors just have to force them inside where they can defend him easier.

Paul George- shot chart- www.nba.com/stats

 A big thing that the Raptors need to do is get more fast break points because they is where they excelled but they only had 8 of them tonight while the Pacers had 13. The Raptors need to get back on defense and push them-selves on offense.

A key factor in the games to come is going to be Monta Ellis, if he can score like he did tonight, I think that the Pacers could be able to come away with the series. Ellis and Valanciunas are the X-Factors in this series. They could decide who wins the series.