Game Rewind: Pacers 98, Raptors 111

Despite playing without several key players, the Toronto Raptors handled the Indiana Pacers on Friday night at the Air Canada Centre. Toronto (53-26) never trailed over the final three quarters in a 111-98 win over the Pacers (42-37).

The Pacers entered Friday's game knowing they could clinch a playoff spot with a win. The Raptors — their playoff seed all but assured — seemingly made that task easier when they announced four hours before tipoff that they would rest All-Stars Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, as well as key rotation players Luis Scola and DeMarre Carroll, against Indiana.

"It's a different challenge when you find out right before the game that key guys are going to be out," Pacers head coach Frank Vogel said. "...We didn't handle it well enough."

The Blue & Gold got off to a sluggish start, scoring a season-low 15 points in the first quarter. The hosts surged in front by scoring 13 unanswered points over the end of the first and start of the second periods, opening up a 12-point lead.

The Pacers slowly clawed their way back, cutting the deficit to just four points at the half.

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But Toronto extended the margin quickly after halftime, thanks in large part to their outside shooting. The Raptors made five of their first six shots from 3-point range in the third quarter and put together a 13-3 run to stretch their to 16 a little over seven minutes into the second half.

The Raptors remained on cruise control in the fourth quarter, leading by as many as 19 and never letting Indiana back within single digits en route to a surprising victory that denied the Pacers' bid to seal a playoff berth.

"We didn't play well enough in any area," an honest Vogel said after the loss. "I don't think we respected the guys that were out there and we didn't bring it at a high enough level."

Still, Indiana is in excellent position to return to the postseason for the fifth time in the past six years. The Pacers just need to win one of their final three games or have Chicago lose one of its final three contests to lock up a playoff spot.

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Friday's loss coupled with Detroit's win over Washington did move the Pacers back into eighth place in the Eastern Conference, a half-game back of the Pistons. The good news for the Blue & Gold is that they are tied with the Pistons in the loss column and own the head-to-head tiebreaker over Detroit. That means the Pacers will be the seventh seed in the East playoffs if they can win their final three games, all of which are against teams out of the playoff race.

The seventh seed would likely mean the Pacers would return to Toronto for the first round of the playoffs. The Raptors are all but locked into the second seed in the East, though they could steal the top seed if they win all their remaining games and Cleveland loses out.

Monta Ellis led the Pacers with 17 points in the loss, going 7-for-14 from the field but 0-for-5 from 3-point range. Solomon Hill, fresh off a season-high 15-point performance in Wednesday's win over Cleveland, one-upped that figure on Friday, registering 16 and making 3-of-7 attempts from beyond the arc.

Paul George had 14 points, four rebounds, and three assists for Indiana. The All-Star forward tripped and appeared to hurt his left ankle in the fourth quarter and watched the final 7:14 from the Pacers' bench. Vogel said after the game that George re-aggravated an ankle injury that has been bothering him the last couple weeks, but he didn't believe the injury to be too serious.

Rookie Norman Powell led Toronto with a career-best 27 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Powell went 3-for-4 from long distance, a key part of the Raptors' 10-for-22 (45.5 percent) performance from 3-point range. Fellow rookie Delon Wright added 19 points, while Cory Joseph finished with 18 points and nine assists.

"The players that played for them are good players," Vogel said. "They're not as big a names as the guys that play regularly...it's still no excuse for how we played."

The Pacers return to the court on Sunday night, when they host the Brooklyn Nets at Bankers Life Fieldhouse at 6:00 PM. Indiana then hosts New York on Tuesday evening before traveling to Milwaukee for their final game of the regular season on Wednesday.

The Raptors finished the night with a .544 field goal percentage. The Pacers are now just 1-16 on the year when their opponent shoots 50 percent or better from the field.

C.J. Miles had 13 points off the bench for the Pacers, though he was just 2-for-8 from 3-point range. Miles has now scored in double figures in four consecutive contests and seven of his last nine games.

Lavoy Allen added 12 points and eight rebounds for Indiana, going 5-for-6 from the field.

The Pacers won the turnover battle, forcing Toronto into 17 turnovers while only committing 10.

Wright's 19 points were a career best. Friday was just the 24th career game for the rookie point guard out of Utah.

"This team played hard. They came out and just played harder than us. There is nothing else to say; they just played harder." -George

"When we think as a group we’re making progress and progressing as a team, to have a letdown like tonight it’s frustrating." -George

"They came out and played. That's one thing you don't have to worry about and that's effort and intensity. I thought our young guys came out and played with a lot of effort and intensity." -Raptors head coach Dwane Casey on the Raptors' young players

"It's just the way I played basketball growing up. That tough physical style of basketball. Not being afraid of anybody. Contact whatever it is, just getting to the rim and trying to finish as strong as you can." -Powell on playing through contact and drawing fouls

"It feels good to finally get out there and play when Kyle (Lowry) rests. Feels good to finally get a win. I think he skipped out on three games and we didn't win, so it's most important to try and win when he doesn't play. It was gratifying." -Wright

The Raptors attempted 18 more free throws than Indiana and have now attempted more foul shots than the Pacers in all four of the regular season meetings between the two teams. In total, Toronto has shot 51 more free throws than Indiana in their meetings this season, an average of 12.75 extra free throws per game.

On Friday, Norman Powell went 14-for-19 from the free throw line. The Pacers as a team were 16-for-20.

The Brooklyn Nets visit Indiana for the season's final Hickory Night on Sunday evening, where the Pacers will be honoring this year's Boys and Girls IHSAA basketball state champions. Find Tickets »