NBA Betting – Raps Stars MIA as Series Shifts to Indy

Toronto Raptors (-1, 193 o/u) at Indiana Pacers

All I heard about the Toronto Raptors (1-1, 0-0 Away) all season was how they have this great backcourt, but I was never convinced. That all changed after I tuned into Game 2 of their series against the Indiana Pacers (1-1, 0-0 Home) though. After the Raptors pulled out a 98-87 win over the Pacers, I’m now ready to admit that Kyle Lowry and Cory Joseph are truly a devastating combination.

Huh? That’s not what you meant? The All-Star combo is Lowry and DeMar who? I haven’t heard of him. But I’ll keep my eyes peeled for this “DeRozan” character when the Raptors visit Bankers Life Fieldhouse for Game 3 of this Eastern Conference playoff series (Thursday at 7:30 PM Eastern).

Toronto may have been led to the second seed in the East by a pair of guards that averaged 44 points and ten assists a game, but the Raptors have only been able to compete with the Pacers in the postseason thanks to role players stepping up on the big stage. Particularly, these playoffs have marked the coming-out party of Jonas Valanciunas. The big Lithuanian center has 35 points and 34 boards through two games (numbers that would have been higher had he not gotten into foul trouble early in Game 1).

But while a mismatch on the glass and a bench that’s chipping in 44.5 points a game is all fine and dandy, this is still the NBA. And that means you need a player who can carry your team when it needs it most. Exhibit A: Paul George. When Game 1 was tied at 76 in the fourth quarter, the Pacers’ superstar took charge and had a hand in 19 of his team’s final 24 points as they pulled away for a 100-90 win.

Neither Lowry nor DeRozan has been able to dominate for a single stretch of this series, although Kyle had a solid Game 2, shooting 10 of 10 from the free-throw line and adding nine dimes. DeRozan spent the fourth quarter on the bench, a trend that might continue if he can’t find a way to contribute. Over two games, he and Lowry are a combined 17 of 63 from the field; George is shooting 54-percent.

The Pacers are the sixth-best team in the NBA in opponent field-goal percentage, but can they keep up this level of lock-down defending? Before this series, DeRozan hadn’t shot under 30-percent from the field in back-to-back games since Feb 28, 2015. He can’t be kept down for much longer.

The Raptors outclass the Pacers in so many other areas that holding Toronto to a lousy field-goal percentage is Indiana’s only chance at pulling this series out; and even then it may not be enough. In two trips to Indianapolis this season, the Raps shot under 37-percent from the field, but managed to go 1-1. They’d be happy with another split this time around to regain home court advantage.

Toronto went 24-17 on the road this year. Indiana went 26-15 at home, but is just 4-4 in its last eight home postseason games.

With a line this close in a pivotal game, I’ll roll with Lowry and DeRozan to figure it out and take the better team to win.

Pick: Toronto (-1).

(Photo Credit: Gabriel Li (Originally uploaded to Flickr)[https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/])