Casey saves Raptors with gutsy benching of DeRozan

The Toronto Raptors would not have evened up the series had it not been for the courage of their head coach.

Dwane Casey made the bold decision to leave DeMar DeRozan - his two-time All-Star shooting guard - on the bench in favor of a rookie for the fourth quarter in Game 2 and it made all the difference.

With DeRozan out of the game, a lineup with Lowry and four bench players sparked a 15-5 run to open the fourth quarter, and they never looked back en route to the 98-87 victory.

Make no mistake: leaving his leading scorer out of the game is not how Casey drew it up before the game­.

Casey stuck with DeRozan in Game 1, and the Pacers ultimately made the comeback. So, with his struggles pouring into Game 2, Casey couldn't afford to die on the same hill a second time.

Just as it was in Game 1, DeRozan couldn't score against the bigger and quicker Paul George. He couldn't beat George off the dribble, and even when he did, there was a help defender at the rim to thwart DeRozan on his drives.

DeRozan's ineffectiveness on offense corrupted his defensive effort. George already proved DeRozan ineffectual after hanging 33 points on him in Game 1, so Casey made a lineup change to hide DeRozan elsewhere. Even that didn't work, as Monta Ellis, George Hill, and even Solomon Hill would spring free from DeRozan.

After boldly declaring he wouldn't repeat his 5-of-19 shooting performance from Game 1, DeRozan promptly ended the game with 10 points on 5-of-18 shooting with no free throws.

His star player didn't have it, so Casey bit the bullet and turned to a rookie.

In came Norman Powell, the 46th pick from UCLA. He not only had to fill in for DeRozan, he also inherited the task of guarding George.

Powell only made one shot on six tries, but his impact on the defensive end was obvious. He bodied up George as best he could, and held him to only four points in the fourth quarter.

Standing at 6-foot-4, Powell gave up five inches in height to George. However, he had the quickness advantage, and wedged himself around screens to prevent George from getting into the lane where he's most dangerous. Factor in his seven-foot wingspan, and Powell made for an ideal defender to slow George.

Powell finished as a game-high plus-21 on the night.

With Powell keeping a lid on George, the Raptors turned to Lowry, Joseph, and Jonas Valanciunas to carry the scoring. None of the three players are gifted scorers like DeRozan, but they beat the Pacers with their movement as passing.

The Pacers elected to trap Lowry up top, so he fed Valanciunas on rolls to the hoop. Lowry picked up nine dimes on the night, and Valanciunas scored a game-high 23 points - all from within the paint.

As for Joseph, he took it to the defense on every opportunity. Lowry drew the tougher defenders, which allowed Joseph to go to work on the likes of Ty Lawson. The hometown kid Joseph had 16 points off the bench, and flat-out embarrassed Lawson on a few occasions.

Again, it's not easy for a coach to bench his star player. Had it failed, the screws would have been turned on Casey for keeping his leading scorer on the bench for the most important moments of the game.

But it worked out in the end. With every passing timeout, the Raptors' lead grew. And while DeRozan's absence was certainly awkward, there was no arguing with the results.

Casey made a bold move and it paid off.