Toronto claws into Indiana in its own home, takes 2-1 series lead

INDIANAPOLIS – It’s as if the Raptors brought the worried weather with them. After squandering home court advantage in a tight Game 1 loss, Toronto swiped it right back in a dominant Game 3 performance on Thursday night, downing the Indiana Pacers 101-85 to take a 2-1 series lead.

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The Pacers aped Toronto’s typical Game 1 showing in its first game back home in nine days, playing tight and uninspired basketball from the get-go. Toronto pounced on the Pacers from the start, establishing DeMar DeRozan’s wiry midrange game early on, giving the All-Star space as he bounded his way toward 12 first quarter points. DeRozan hit for 4-6 from the free throw line in the first quarter, matching in 12 minutes of action what he contributed from the stripe in 67 previous first round minutes against these Pacers.

DeRozan would go on to hit three more from the line in the win, finishing with 21 points. His backcourt mate Kyle Lowry also hit for the same number, tying for a team-high, continually probing a Pacer defense that hardly reminded of the No. 3 ranked stoppers that the home crowd watched during hte regular season.

“They outplayed us in most areas,” Indiana coach Frank Vogel admitted following the loss. His Pacers lost the rebounding battle (45-38), the team shot just 38 percent while missing 16 of 22 three-pointers, and his team could hardly be bothered to match Toronto’s intensity when it came to corralling loose balls and potential turnovers. Toronto absolutely thrived in the unfamiliar setting.

Swingman DeMarre Carroll, starting just his second game since Jan. 3 (and playing over 30 minutes for the first time since Dec. 3), was a massive boon. Raptors coach Dwane Casey credited his ability to provide spacing to the Toronto offense following the win, but it was his defense on All-Star Paul George that made the biggest difference. George nailed all 12 of his free throw attempts and finished with a game-high 25 points, but he missed 13 of 19 shots in the loss while turning the ball over four times.

George added 10 rebounds and six assists, but he had little help from his fellow starters. The Pacer backcourt of George Hill and Monta Ellis combined to miss 10 of 16 shots, while center Ian Mahinmi was clearly hamstrung by a lower back strain. Coach Vogel decided to start rookie forward Myles Turner ahead of the ineffective Lavoy Allen coming out of halftime, and he responded with seven points, four rebounds and two blocks in that frame, but Indiana could only cut Toronto’s 17-point lead to 12 during Turner’s turn.

Raps coach Dwane Casey was clearly pleased with his team’s effort following the win:

“I liked our activity, intensity, our tone, our approach, our effort, and our attention to detail,” forgetting to list his team’s ability to line up properly for free throw attempts and the cut of his team’s jib during timeouts. Toronto forced 10 Indiana turnovers in the first half alone, and though Casey fretted postgame about the Pacers’ ability to get to the free throw line (Indiana went 27-33 from the stripe), his team established an early defensive identity that Indiana just could not overcome.

The Pacers did well to limit the offensive contributions of Jonas Valanciunas, who scored just nine points after combining for 35 points in the first two contests, but the burly Raptor center still pulled in 14 rebounds in just 27 minutes – his 16 rebounds per game leads all playoff participants. Rookie Norman Powell was moved down the Raptor rotation after a 1-6 showing in his first playoff game off the bench in Game 2, he appeared for just three minutes in the win, but the young man hardly seemed shook postgame. The same could be said of Terrence Ross, a notoriously poor playoff performer who has played just 22 postseason minutes after averaging 24 ticks per game during the regular season. Ross hit two of his three shots in the win but played just under 10 minutes on Thursday.

The Pacers finished 25th in offensive efficiency during the regular season, ranking last among the 16 postseason participants. The team doesn’t need a lot of help on its way toward an 85-point night, but the Raptors didn’t mind lending a hand. In doing so, the Raps looked miles removed from the team that tugged at its collar while giving yet another Game 1 away on Saturday.

Does that allow for us to count the figurative corner as being turned? This is the best Toronto Raptors team in franchise history, but only Saturday’s Game 4 will let us know how real this is. The Raps can’t count on more Pacer yips in the team’s second game on its home court.

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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops