Toronto Raptors v Indiana Pacers – NBA
Today in Eastern conference match-up, we will see Toronto Raptors hosting Indiana Pacers at Air Canada Centre, Toronto.
Toronto Raptors are currently in 4th position in the East, holding a 40-29 record and a 2-3 record in the past 5 games. Over the course of last 5 games, Toronto lost against Atlanta Hawks (105:99), Miami Heat (104:89) and Oklahoma City Thunder (102:123). On the other hand, they won against Dallas Mavericks (100:78) and Detroit Pistons (75:87) on Saturday. Let’s touch their last game against Detroit Pistons. As the score line suggests, it was a relatively low scoring match, as neither of the teams excelled in shooting accuracy. Raptors held a 38.5 FG%, whereas Pistons shot 34.9% from the field. Despite that, it was an interesting match to watch. Raptors ended the 1st quarter with 3 point lead (13:16). The shocking part of 1st quarter was Pistons FG% (25%). On the other hand Raptors 31.6FG% was not praiseworthy neither. 2nd quarter ended without any big surprises on neither side (25:24). In 3rd quarter of the match, we saw Detroit “stepping on the gas”, as they outscored their opponents by 8 points, thus going into the last 12 minutes with a 6 point lead. At one point of 4th quarter, Detroit even held a 9 point lead, but they did not manage to hold on to it for long. Toronto Raptors turned the game into their favour with a (3:24) run, holding Detroit at only 15% shooting accuracy, whereas having a 44.4FG% of their own. The turnaround was phenomenal and surely a night to remember. AT least for Toronto, not so much for Detroit. Top scorers of the match: Jackson (20pts), Ibaka (17pts) and Harris (14pts)
Tonight’s visiting team, Indiana Pacers are currently in 6th position in the East, with a 35-33 record. Looking at their past 5 games, Indiana Pacers managed to win 3 games, against Detroit Pistons (115:98), Miami Heat (102:98) and Charlotte Hornets (98:77). On the other side, they lost to Milwaukee Bucks (99:85) and New York Knicks (87:81). The pattern is clear, Indiana performs well at home (24-10), but same cannot be said for away games (11:23). Indiana’s last game took place on Thursday, at Bankers Life Fieldhouse against Charlotte Hornets. The match started off with Indiana taking the lead of 2 points by the end of 1st quarter (24:22). Charlotte Hornets tied the match in the upcoming 12 minutes (18:20), so both teams went into the locker rooms with 42 points each. At this point it was impossible to call out a winner, as both teams performed equally good. But 3rd quarter showed a completely different picture. Indiana went into 2nd half with intention to win the match and that showed in 3rd quarter, where they outscored Charlotte by 17 points (33:16). Much of their success is due to great defensive performance, letting Hornets shot with only 35% accuracy, whereas Pacers held a respectable 64.7 FG%. Trailing by 17 points with 12 minutes left almost always spells a defeat, and that was the case for Hornets, who did not manage to get back into the match. Indiana Pacers instead even further increased their lead by additional 4 points. The game ended with 21 point win by Indiana (98:77) Top scorers of the match: George (39pts), Kaminsky (20pts) and Ellis (16pts).
Verdict & Prediction
Indiana did perform very well in their recent match, but we must keep in mind that they did in fact play at home stadium, where they tend to play better compared to away games. Looking at Indiana away games, they failed to win in the past 3 games and are currently holding a 3-7 record when travelling. On the other side, Raptors hold a 6-4 record when playing at home. Looking at last 10 H2H matches between these two teams at Air Canada Centre, Toronto came on top 8 times. History tends to repeat itself and judging by current form of the teams this will most likely be the case tonight.
Prediction: Toronto Raptors – 3.5 points
Odds: 1.96 SBOBET
