Game Rewind: Pacers 90, Raptors 88

90
88

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Wednesday, October 31 at 7:00 PM at the Air Canada Centre

Instant Rewind: IND 90, TOR 88

by Scott Agness

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Game Rewind

The Indiana Pacers overcame sloppy play and a double-digit deficit to pick up a hard-fought win on the road 90-88 in the season-opener.

Paul George scored the first two buckets of the season for the Pacers, both on aggressive moves to the basket. The Raptors then went on a 6-0 run, though Roy Hibbert quickly ended that with a big slam. Gerald

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Green, starting in place of injured Danny Granger, connected on the first shot he threw up, a three from the left side three minutes in. David West, matched up against Andrea Bargnani, was whistled for two quick fouls and went to the bench.

When the second-unit was first called upon, the nerves were apparent. Coach Vogel opted to leave Paul George on the floor with the bunch as the scoring threat. First half turnovers were plenty (12), although the Pacers had 14 assists on 20 field goals. Midway through the second period, the starters returned and so did the offensive flow. However, every time the Pacers tried to build a lead, the Raptors hit a big shot.

The Pacers and Raptors went to the locker room all tied up at 48.

Turnovers continued to be a problem for the blue and gold in the third. Toronto took advantage and used a 12-0 run to build a 64-53 lead. A David West field goal midway through the quarter finally ended the run, but the Raptors took the momentum and an 8-point lead into the fourth.

West carried the Pacers in the fourth as well, scoring 10 straight and hitting tough shot after tough shot. George Hill’s three-pointer with just over three minutes to go brought the Pacers within three and a West jumper cut it to one. Then, Toronto’s Kyle Lowry, who scored a team-high 21 points, connected on two free throws to push the lead back to three.

West again cut the lead to one with a field goal. Lowry missed a shot and fouled George Hill, who made one of two to tie it up at 88. After a DeMar DeRozan miss, Paul George grabbed the rebound and the Pacers set up their final play.

Off a timeout, with 22.1 seconds remaining, Hill kept the ball on a pick-and-roll with West, got into the lane and his tear-drop fell to give the Pacers a two-point lead with 2.1 seconds to go. Toronto's Andrea Bargnani then missed a jumper over West and the Pacers closed the game on a 12-2 run for the victory.

Inside the Numbers

David West put the team on his back in the second half, scoring 21 of his 25 points in the win. In the third and fourth quarter, he scored 7 and 10 points in a row for the Pacers, respectively.

Roy Hibbert had a stellar first half, making his presence felt, scoring all 14 of his points for the game. He also recorded 9 rebounds, 5 blocks and 3 assists in the win.

Paul George finished with 14 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 assists in 35 minutes.

The Pacers held the Raptors to a 36% clip from the field, 33-91. The Pacers also won the rebounding battle 46-42.

Indiana shot only 69% from the free-throw line. Last year, they were third-best in the league (78.2%).

Kyle Lowry had an excellent first game in a Raptors uniform. He had a team-high 21 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds, and 5 steals.

Toronto center Jonas Valanciunas recorded a double-double (12 pts, 10 rebs) in his first NBA game.

The Raptors had five players finish in double-figures. Offseason pickup Landry Fields, however, failed to score.

The game featured 11 ties and 16 lead changes. Toronto’s biggest lead was 11.

Stat of the Game

Turnovers plagued the Pacers for most of the game. They ended the night with 19, which Toronto converted into 17 points. Impressively, the Pacers only turned it over once in the final 12 minutes.

Noteworthy

  • Indiana has won their last four meetings against Toronto.
  • The Pacers won their second straight season-opener.
  • 10 Pacers saw the court and played at least 11 minutes each.
  • The game was a sell-out (19,800).

Quoteworthy

"David put us on his shoulders tonight in the fourth quarter, on both ends of the court, and just carried us. This victory is squarely on his shoulders because he carried us in the fourth and really led us." – Frank Vogel on David West’s performance

"I’m not really sure what changed other than the emphasis that we had to stop turning the ball over. We knew at half-time that was the only difference in the game. They had 10 steals at half-time, otherwise we felt we would have been up 10 and we just had to take care of the ball. We still didn’t do it in the third but finally in the fourth we were able to do it." – Frank Vogel

"I was just able to get the ball in spots where I could be effective. We were fighting uphill basically the whole game... I started feeling good and was able to get in a rhythm and we just made plays down the stretch to get the game. " – David West

"He is a man child. Anytime you have a player like that, that can put a whole team on his back and play with that type physicality, we can’t do anything but follow his lead." – George Hill on West

"Today they brought it harder but we brought it longer, and that is something that Coach has been talking about; he wants us to bring it harder and longer. We lost in the first half of bringing it harder and we won the second one by playing harder and grinding it out, so you have to tip your hat to this whole team." – George Hill

Upcoming

Indiana is on the road often in the first month of the season, playing 5 of their first 6 games and 12-of-18 away from the Fieldhouse. This weekend, they’ll have their first back-to-back games; the Pacers play in Charlotte Friday and return home Saturday against Sacramento for their home-opener starting at 7:00 PM

Opening Night includes a free Blue Collar Gold Swagger T-Shirt and the premiere of the NBA's best, new scoreboard. Tickets start at $10. Buy Tickets for Opening Night »

Broadcast Information

TV: FOX Sports Indiana – Chris Denari (play-by-play), Quinn Buckner (analyst), Brooke Olzendam (sideline reporter/host)

Radio: 1070 The Fan, Pacers Radio Network – Mark Boyle (play-by-play)

Find Your Local TV Listing

  • Accelplus 30
  • AT&T U-verse 749 (HD 1749)
  • Avenue 34
  • Bright House 47 or 64 (HD 747)
  • Charter-Vincennes 34
  • Cinergy-Metronet 28 (HD 828)
  • Citizens TBA
  • Comcast-Fort Wayne 8 (HD 1652)
  • Comcast-Indianapolis/Shelbyville 28 or 44 (HD 1673)
  • DirecTV 673 (HD 673-1)
  • Dish varies (444-453, 470s)
  • Fairpoint/Unite 37 (HD 437)
  • Frontier FiOS 77 (HD 577)
  • Indiana Fones 31
  • Insight-Bloomington 61
  • Insight-Evansville 47 (HD 929)
  • Insight-Kokomo/Richmond/Anderson 53
  • IUTV-Bloomington TBA
  • LigTV 63
  • Mediacom-Auburn 17 (HD 732)
  • New Wave-Greencastle/Vincennes 34
  • Time Warner-Newburgh 37
  • Time Warner-Terre Haute 36
  • WOW 31 (HD 828)
  • DISH Network (442) – Note: DISH channels change from game-to-game, be sure to check your listings.
Roy Hibbert against Toronto on October 31, 2012