TORONTO — The Toronto Raptors have waited a year to come to grips with their playoff history and now they know which particular dragon they’ll need to slay.
Thanks to Indiana’s win over the New York Knicks and Detroit’s loss to the Miami Heat, the Pacers are cemented as the No. 7 seed and the Pistons as No. 8.
The Raptors’ road to redemption will travel through Indianapolis although they’ll get their start here at the Air Canada Centre, the fruits of earning the No. 2 seed.
The playoff schedule won’t be finalized until Wednesday night.
The Raptors hold a 3-1 edge in the season series against Indiana but as they know first-hand, that doesn’t mean much. The Raptors were 3-0 against the Washington Wizards before they were swept in the first round a year ago. The Raptors have been the higher seed in both of their most recent first-round losses as well.
No wonder Raptors head coach Dwane Casey was making the Pacers sound like the second coming of the mid-’90s Bulls as he assessed the matchup.
“They’re a good team, they’re a team that’s been there before,” said Casey after the Raptors handled the Philadelphia 76ers 122-98 Tuesday night. “They’re an experienced team, a talented team. Paul George is one of the elite players in the league. The young kid, Myles Turner, has really come on. Ian Mahinmi is one of the most improved players in the league. You can go right down the list, they have a very talented roster and their core has been there before.”
As recently as two years ago the Pacers won 56 games and had made consecutive Eastern Conference finals appearances. They took a step back a year ago when George missed most of the season with a broken leg. They have changed their nature since then, with the departure of big men Roy Hibbert, David West and Luis Scola, now with Toronto.
But George has bounced back nicely from his leg injury and was getting some early MVP discussion when the Pacers went 11-2 in November. The Pacers have played mainly .500 basketball since but George is averaging 23 points, seven rebounds and four assists on the season while setting a career high with 209 made threes. He is battling a bone bruise in his ankle.
The Raptors will be relying on DeMarre Carroll to slow him down. The Raptors’ $60-million free agent signing played his third game since returning from mid-season knee surgery and seems to be rounding into form.
He finished with eight points, six rebounds, two assists and a steal in 21 minutes while shooting 2-of-5 from three and most importantly was plus-30 as his turn with the starters in the third quarter in Philadelphia turned the game around.
“It was good to get out there, especially with some of the guys who start. It felt good, just got to carry it over and play my game,” he said.
He was signed to give the Raptors someone to manage some of the Eastern Conference’s big wing players and he’s up for the challenge against Indiana.
“Playing against Paul George, he’s one of the top players in the league, but it’s not my first rodeo against him, I played against him in Atlanta [when he was with the Hawks],” said Carroll. “… He can do it all and he plays on both ends, that makes him really special. I have to do my job and make every shot he takes hard for him. My motto is don’t want him hitting the same shots he’s hitting early in the game at the end of the game.”
Carroll says he’s fit enough to play a bigger role after coming off the bench for limited minutes since coming back from knee surgery he underwent in January.
“I’m great, mentally. I was taking it game by game and tonight my teammates were telling me if you got space, shoot it, you’re one of our best three-point shooters,” he said. “My rhythm feels good. I just need to carry it over into the playoffs.”
He and the rest of the Raptors are about to get their chance.
