Game Rewind
The Pacers (37-39) came up short north of the border, falling to the Toronto Raptors (46-30), 111-100.
For the first three-and-a-half quarters it was a competitive contest. Indiana trailed 59-53 and reeled off seven straight, five coming from Paul George, to take a 60-59 lead with 7:05 left in the third.
But then the wheels fell off for the visitors. The rest of the period was dominated by the Raptors. They outscored Indiana 21-8 the rest of the way to lead 80-68 going into the fourth quarter. DeRozan (16 points) and Jonas Valanciunas (12 points) scored 28 of the Raptors' 34 third quarter points.
"In that third quarter, we definitely came out flat, and they got rolling," Pacers forward Paul George said.
The third quarter ended up being the difference, as the Pacers made things interesting by cutting the deficit to seven with just under two minutes to play but it was too little too late.
Indiana came out of the gate firing on all cylinders. The Pacers jumped out to a 9-2 lead, forcing a Raptors timeout at the 9:32 mark.
Indiana extended its advantage to 17-9 before the home team struck back. The Raptors finished the quarter on a 19-8 run to take a 28-25 lead into the second period.
PLAYOFF PICTURE: Track the Pacers' Playoff Push »
In the second, Toronto quickly extended its lead to seven, but Indiana answered with a 14-5 run, capped off by a PG triple, to lead 39-37 with 4:50 to go in the half.
The Pacers took the lead into the locker room thanks to George. He made a tough runner with :08 on the clock to break a 46-46 tie.
The start of the second half belonged to DeMar DeRozan. He was red-hot, scoring nine of Toront's first 11 third quarter points. The 11-2 run gave the Raptors a 57-50 lead and forced an Indiana timeout with 9:11 to play in the third.
DeRozan's scorching start was foreshadowing for the rest of the third quarter, the period that put Indiana in a very tough hole to dig out of.
George finished with 28 points and nine rebounds. Jeff Teague added 19 points and five assists.
For Toronto, DeRozan had a monster night, scoring 40 points to go along with nine rebounds and four assists. Valanciunas finished with 16 points and 17 rebounds.
"My teammates are helping me out," Raptors forward DeMar DeRozan said. "They are taking the pressure off me, they make big shots and that's big for opening lanes for me to be aggressive."
Inside The Numbers
Toronto outrebounded Indiana 53-42, including 16-12 on the offensive glass.
Behind DeRozan's 20 attempts, the Raptors shot 35 free throws compared to Indiana's 21.
Myles Turner had four blocks for the third time in his last seven games.
Stat of the Night
Toronto's DeMar DeRozan finished with 40 points on 11-of-26 shooting. He got to the free-throw line 20 times, converting 15.
Noteworthy
- Indiana shot 41.4 percent and are now 19-30 when shooting between 40-49 percent.
- Paul George averaged 26.8 points per game in March, making it the second-highest scoring month of his career.
- The Pacers are now 17-28 when they are outrebounded by their opponent.
You Can Quote Me On That
"The ball was moving in rhythm, getting to hot spots. I think everybody was knocking down the three-ball." - Raptors forward DeMarre Carroll
"You just can’t give Toronto 16 offensive rebounds, 20 second chance points, can’t turn the ball over 14 times and you can’t allow them to march to the free throw line 35 times." - Pacers head coach Nate McMillan
"I thought DeMar had a really efficient night from the three-point line. Handling the basketball, I thought he did an excellent job in the second half of passing the basketball to cutters, seeing the open guy when they started bringing a couple of bodies to him." - Raptors head coach Dwane Casey
"They made shots, they pressured us a little bit and we didn’t really match the effort in some of the categories they pressed us in." - Pacers forward C.J. Miles
Up Next
Indiana's road trip continues Sunday against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Lance Stephenson will be in uniform for Indiana for the first time since signing with the team earlier this week. Tip off is set for 6:00 PM ET.
Tickets
After a three-game road trip, the Pacers will return to Bankers Life Fieldhouse to host the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday, April 4 at 7:00 PM ET. That night will also be the 2010s Decade Game and all fans in attendance will receive a bobblehead of All-Star forward Paul George. Find Tickets »