3 adjustments the Raptors can make to recover vs. Pacers
A series-opening loss is far from a death blow in a best-of-seven, but when you're coming off of back-to-back opening-round defeats as the higher seed, and are mired in a seven-game playoff losing streak, another Game 1 loss at home is going to be magnified.
The tension inside the Air Canada Centre for Game 2 between the Raptors and Pacers on Monday will be palpable before the series shifts to Indiana. Until then, here are three adjustments Toronto should consider to get back in this series, and to put its panicking fan base at ease.
Lineup changes
For starters, head coach Dwane Casey should tinker with his starters. As a 40 percent 3-point shooter, Luis Scola gave the Raptors more than anyone could have expected for a good chunk of the season, but his play tailed off as the year wore on, and the fact of the matter is that a 56-win team was often very bad with Scola on the court.
Case in point, of the Raptors' 20 most used lineups this season, 11 had a positive net rating. Scola was only a part of one of those 11 five-man units. On the flip side, the veteran Argentinian was a member of seven of the nine lineups that were outscored per possession.
It's time to drop Scola from the starting five, and likely even from the rotation as a whole. With rotations shortening come playoff time and the best players logging 40-plus minutes, there's less margin for error when it comes to managing your own team's rotation. A team as deep as the Raptors can afford to watch their reserves get them back in games from November to March - not so much from April to June. Ride your best players and best combinations as often as possible.
More Patterson
In Scola's stead, the Raptors would be wise to turn to Patrick Patterson. The 27-year-old has come into his own as a two-way power forward, and he at times looks like Toronto's third-best player behind All-Stars Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan.
Yet Patterson logged less than 27 minutes per game off the Raptors' bench, and after a strong first half on Saturday, saw less than 14 minutes of second-half action against the Pacers. For what it's worth, Patterson was the only Raptor to post a positive plus-minus (+1) of the 10 who played in Game 1.
Put your best defenders on Paul George
The indisputable story of Game 1 was the dominant play of Paul George, who shut down DeMar DeRozan on the defensive end while torching DeRozan and Co. on the offensive end, particularly in the second half.
Sometimes there's just no stopping volume scorers in a proverbial "zone," but Dwane Casey did himself no favors having DeRozan guard George for much of his offensive onslaught. DeRozan was already struggling to get anything going offensively, so the last thing he needed was the toughest defensive assignment to further slow him down where he's needed most.
DeMarre Carroll is still on a minutes restriction, but those minutes would be best spent guarding George, which is exactly the type of player he was brought to Toronto to slow down. And when Carroll can no longer do it, rookie swingman Norman Powell is still a better defensive option than DeRozan.
Hope Kyle Lowry is healthy
At some point there are no adjustments left to make, and you just have to hope the bounces break in your favor. One such example is the health of Lowry.
If Lowry's 3-of-13, six-turnover performance - which included missing five of nine attempts from the free-throw line - was merely an off day for the All-NBA caliber point guard, then the Raptors could still have the best player in the series. But if Lowry's shooting was an indication that his troublesome right elbow is going to be an issue, then even a myriad of astute adjustments might not be enough for Toronto.