An emotional Valentine’s Day game ended in heartbreak as the Raptors lost a close game to Pascal Siakam and the Indiana Pacers.
The Toronto Raptors had one last game tonight before the All-Star Break, and not only was it on Valentine’s Day, but we all had to see our ex. Pascal Siakam and the Indiana Pacers were in town for the first time since Siakam was traded less than a month ago.
The night started with an emotional tribute video and standing ovation for the former Raptor, who started for the Pacers.
The Raptors started their usual lineup of RJ Barrett, Scottie Barnes, Jakon Poeltl, Gary Trent Jr., and Immanuel Quickley.
Toronto started off hot going up 16-8 over the Pacers ahead of the first timeout. Barrett scored seven of those points for Toronto, back after missing practice yesterday due to personal reasons. He even got a charge in the first quarter.
The Pacers came back though, with Siakam scoring his first bucket of the night near the end of the first quarter. Hero Doug McDermott scored a wild buzzer beater to end the quarter but the Raptors were still up 35-34.
Of course of COURSE the star of the Siakam-Barnes matchup is Doug McDermott.
(@chelsealeite called that shot the second it left his hands)
— Louis Zatzman (@LouisZatzman) February 15, 2024
Now, as the Raptors continued to lead through the second, don’t be overly shocked. The general vibe of the Indiana Pacers is no defence, just vibes. The vibes are out-bucketing your opponent. Indiana has quite a few bucket-getters, but surprisingly they weren’t having the best shooting night in the first half.
They essentially just don’t play defence and hope to score more than their opponents. Which kinda works when you have Tyrese Haliburton making circus shots all night. In the first half of tonight’s game though, the Raptors were getting just a few more shots in.
At halftime, the Raptors were up 71-65
When it came to shooting, the Pacers shot 46.2% (24-52) from the field in the first half as opposed to the Raptors 56.9% (29-51), so it was close as well. From three, the Raptors were just winning that battle percentage-wise at 41.7% (5-12) over the Pacers 40.2% (9-22), but of course the Indiana made more.
By halftime, RJ Barrett was up to 17 points, and Scottie Barnes was at 14. Haliburton scored the most for the Pacers with 14 points.
It didn’t take long into the third quarter for the Pacers to catch up and overcome the Raptors. It was Siakam of course to score the points that gave the Pacers their first lead of the game.
It turned into a battle of the lead changeovers as both teams were going bucket for bucket for most of the third quarter.
Obviously given the occasion of the night and who we were celebrating, the crowd at Scotiabank Arena was fantastic, especially as the game got closer.
As to be expected with a high-offensive game like this one, the Raptors cracked 100 points before the third quarter was over. RJ Barrett continued to dominate, getting to the basket effortlessly due to the… lack of Pacers defence.
Toronto led 103-101 with one quarter to go.
It continued to be a bucket for bucket game all throughout the fourth quarter, with both teams switching leads again and again.
At the three minute mark the Pacers were up by three, but thanks to the physicality of RJ Barrett, he was able to get to the line. He missed both, a huge game changer for the Raptors.
A fumble on their next possession turned the ball over to the Pacers, who also fumbled it and turned it over back. The Pacers would challenge that call.
After a HUGE Scottie Barnes bucket, it was of course, Pascal Siakam to return the bucket and bring the Pacers up by three points with 20 seconds to go. The Raptors took possession, and Scottie Barnes tried to to tie the game, but missed the three pointer.
Poeltl made both his free throws after that, but Toronto was still down by one. Thanks to a foul, the Pacers made a free throw of their own, and it was yet again Raptors ball with 9.6 seconds to go. They were down by two points.
Darko: “I thought he we competed in a high level throughout the whole game.” A couple possessions they could have executed better. Also got a couple wide open 3s they missed.
Final ATO they were looking for a 3 to win, and pass was possibly there, but didn’t execute.
— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) February 15, 2024
Unfortunately, RJ Barrett missed the shot on the ATO play, and the Raptors fell by two to the Indiana Pacers, 127-125.
Barnes led all scorers with 29 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists, one steal and one block. RJ Barrett had 23 points, nine rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal. Siakam led the Pacers with 23 points five rebounds, seven assists one steal and one block.
The team will now have eight days off before their next game. In the meantime, Scottie Barnes will be partaking in All-Star festivities in Indiana.