Raptors vs Pacers

The Pacers have fared well against the Raps this season but could use a healthy roster to try for the sweep.

- out (left foot surgery - second toe dislocation) Although, Chris Duarte and Tyrese Haliburton are now questionable, so if they are available, suddenly the Pacers are fully loaded once again for a challenging end to the current road trip. The Pacers are not only finishing the series, their trying to sweep the series after winning the first two games that were played at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

NBA odds, picks, and predictions for the Indiana Pacers at Toronto Raptors on March 22. NBA betting best bet and free pick analysis.

The Pacers play at a high pace, while the Raptors play at a much slower one. Now, there are a couple of reasons the Raptors are laying this many points in this Eastern Conference matchup. With or without Haliburton, I expect the Pacers to try and attack the Raptors on the perimeter and that should mean a big shooting night for Hield. All that just means I just see too much variance in the outcomes for this matchup. While the defense allows the sixth-fewest points per game with Poeltl in the starting lineup. The total for this matchup hit the board at 234.5 and has seen little action so far. They rank 12th in the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage and take the sixth-most attempts from deep per game. The [Pacers](https://www.covers.com/sport/basketball/nba/teams/main/indiana-pacers) shooting guard is having a great year shooting the ball, draining a ridiculous 42.5% of his attempts from beyond the arc this season. As a result, the Raptors rank next-to-last in the NBA when it comes to opponent 3-point shooting percentage. Hield’s made threes prop is on the board at 3.5 in this game, with the Over getting nice plus money. This is in part due to Toronto’s aggressive help defense — a good passing team can swing the ball around the perimeter for good shots. The team ranks ninth in defensive efficiency since inserting Poeltl in the starting lineup.

TORONTO (AP) Rookie guard Andrew Nembhard had 25 points and 10 assists in his first NBA game back home in Canada, and the Indiana Pacers beat the Toronto ...

… The Pacers committed 18 turnovers, leading to 21 points for Toronto. The Raptors shot 7 for 34 from 3-point range. Toronto lost at home for the first time since Feb. TV cameras caught him raising his middle finger to someone on the court. … Actor Mike Myers sat opposite the Toronto bench. Raptors: Barnes sat for the fourth time this season and first since Nov. “It was really fun just to play in Toronto my first time,” Mathurin said. “I thought that we let a lot of chances go.” “Just an amazing night for him and his family.” Canadian-born players Mathurin, Nembhard and Oshae Brissett all started for Indiana as the Raptors celebrated Canada Basketball Night. Poeltl missed two free throws with 1:24 left when Toronto could have cut the deficit to two. That was great.”

The latest Toronto Raptors injury report shows that Scottie Barnes might not be fully healthy for their game against the Indiana Pacers.

Rookie wing Kendall Brown also appears unlikely to play after a serious leg injury has derailed his first season in the pros. remains out for the rest of the season due to his foot, while Dalano Banton is not going to play due to a thumb injury that has been nagging him. [ fractured nose](https://www.si.com/nba/raptors/news/toronto-raptors-christian-koloko-fractured-nose-questionable-for-saturday) against the Thunder, but all signs point to him playing in this one. Without the All-Star point guard in the fold, Indiana’s offense will become much less potent against a Raptors team that has put together some solid games of late. Indiana has shown they can befuddle Toronto in the past. The Toronto Raptors managed to perform very well during what was a pivotal week of games.

The Raptors are playing better, but still need to win games if they want to host a play-in game. Even though the injury bug is biting again, ...

(foot – out) Barnes, Trent and Achiuwa are all game-time decisions, though Scottie sounds like he’s on the doubtful side of questionable. [Toronto Raptors](https://www.raptorshq.com)’ status these season is still swinging in the wind.

Andrew Nembhard, Bennedict Mathurin and Oshae Brissett made history by being the first three Canadian players to start for the same team in the same game.

All three had a lot of running around to do in the two days the Pacers were in Toronto, talking to local media and meeting up with family and friends. And when the Pacers needed him to make a big shot, he made the biggest one. He scored 14 points in the first quarter alone on 6 of 8 shooting and he kept pushing the pace and attacking the rim. "Oshae, all year, has gone from being consistently in the rotation to being totally out of the rotation to being in and out," Carlisle said. Nembhard and Mathurin were going to be in the lineup already, but someone needed to step aside for Brissett to have his opportunity in the limelight. "My goal is to be the best two-way player in the NBA," Mathurin said. Brissett scored the game's first points with a three-pointer and later had a ferocious dunk that he was so excited about it led to a technical foul. "Guys like Oshae need to be rewarded for professionalism and commitment to the team and being a constant energy giver. Carlisle saw an opportunity to add to the historical expansion of Canadian basketball, but also reward those players for their contributions and allow them to put on a show in front of dozens of family and friends each. When Carlisle was drafted by the Celtics out of Virginia in 1984, just six Canadian-born players had played in an NBA game and three of those six had played in fewer than 10 career games according to Basketball Reference. Prior to the Raptors entry into the league, just 11 Canadian-born players had ever played in an NBA game, the most famous of them being Rick Fox and Bill Wennington. With the win they improved to 33-40, putting them alone at 11th place in the Eastern Conference, 1 1/2 games back of the Bulls for 10th and the final play-in position with nine games remaining on the regular-season schedule.