Third quarter woes return as Pacers lose to Raptors, Johnny Furphy goes down
The Pacers have lost four straight.
MY OFFICE, Ind. – The Super Bowl wasn't the only sporting event on Sunday that featured two teams playing great defense in the first half. Up in Canada, the Indiana Pacers and Toronto Raptors battled on the less glamorous end of the court for the first 24 minutes, with the Pacers ahead 48-46 at the mid-game break.
At one point in the second quarter, the Pacers were winning despite shooting 34%. They were still below 40% when halftime arrived and had 10 turnovers. Yet at that moment, the Pacers were ahead because they were getting stops, forcing turnovers themselves, and getting a bit lucky that the Raptors were struggling at the foul line.
"We're staying together. Put together a good defensive quarter in the first quarter," guard Ben Sheppard said of his team's defense in the first half during an interview on the FanDuel Sports Indiana broadcast of the game. Assistant coach Jim Boylen, during a later interview on the same presentation, credited the team's halfcourt defense for their early lead. "Our toughness has been good," he said. "It's kind of a rock-fight game."
Tony East
The Pacers have escaped a pair of rock fights this season with a win, once against the Chicago Bulls (scored 103 points) and once versus the Boston Celtics (98 points). It has been done before, but it's a challenge. Any defensive slippage is a death sentence, and Boylen hinted at that during halftime.
"[The Raptors] spurts usually start from turnovers," he said.
While the Pacers didn't turn it over much in the third quarter (three times), the general principle held true. The Raptors love to run in the open floor and turn defense into offense. And after halftime, they did exactly that. Every missed shot or mistake was used to attack in transition.
It was a nightmare for the Pacers, who couldn't hit a three in the period and nearly got doubled up on the glass. Raptors star Scottie Barnes had 13 points, eight rebounds, and four assists in just the third quarter. His teammates followed suit.
Toronto scored 44 points in the third, marking the seventh time the Pacers have conceded 40+ in a quarter this season. For reference, the Raptors scored 46 points in total during the first half. They completely turned the game around, and their decision to put a smaller lineup on the court to start the second half was a major factor in their better fortunes.
The Pacers countered with an early substitution to get smaller themselves, but they couldn't get enough stops to stay in the game. And their offense stalled just long enough for the scoreboard to get out of hand. Andrew Nembhard and Pascal Siakam, the Pacers top-two scorers, went 3/12 combined in the third quarter as the Raptors lead climbed as high as 19.
"Those are our guys, those are our leaders," Sheppard said of that pairing at halftime. "Second half, we're going to look towards them."
The Pacers did so, but they still struggled. Despite being ahead at halftime, the Pacers were down 16 at the end of the third quarter. Head coach Rick Carlisle pointed squarely at that stretch and the Raptors lineup shift as problems postgame.
Toronto's lead reached 22 points in the fourth quarter as offensive rebounds from new-Raptor Trayce Jackson-Davis put the game away – the IU product had more offensive rebounds than the entire Pacers team. He slammed the door shut on a 122-104 Raptors win.
There were moments in this game where it felt like all the Pacers needed to do to win was clean up their turnovers and rely on their ball movement. But 19 turnovers and a mess of a third quarter ultimately led to their demise. It's a fourth-straight loss, dropping the team to 13-40. And the result may end up not even being the worst part of Sunday's outing for the Pacers.
Johnny Furphy goes down with an injury
With just under three minutes to go in the third quarter, Johnny Furphy cut behind his overextending defender into space. Sheppard saw the open Furphy and tossed him the ball in the lane, leading to a thunderous Furphy dunk that he's proven to be capable of in the last two seasons.
But his landing was scary. Furphy's right knee appeared to twist awkwardly, and he fell to the floor in immediate pain. The second-year wing reached for his right knee, then pounded the floor in a motion that has unfortunately become too familiar for frequent Pacers observers.
The broadcast showed the concerned faces of Tyrese Haliburton, Obi Toppin, and Carlisle. Toppin and athletic trainer Carl Eaton carried Furphy off the court, where he put light pressure on both legs before being put in a wheelchair and rolled off the court.
The Pacers then ruled out Furphy for the rest of the game with right leg soreness. Sheppard and Jarace Walker assumed slightly larger roles for the rest of the game.
"We're not sure on Furphy's situation. He'll get testing tomorrow in New York and we'll see where things are," Carlisle shared postgame. The Pacers next play in New York on Tuesday. "We're hoping it's not that bad, but we don't know right now. Going to hope for the best," Carlisle added.
While it's too early to say anything with certainty, expecting Furphy to play on Tuesday seems rich. Walker and Sheppard should expect bigger roles with Furphy out, and the newly-acquired Kobe Brown may step right into a bench role when he is ready to play for the Pacers.
More on the Furphy injury will be known in the coming days. In the meantime, the Pacers have two more games until the All-Star break in New York. They might have some fresh faces to keep an eye on.
Thank you for reading. I'll be in New York for the next two Pacers outings. Subscribe to not miss anything.
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