All-around play has been a big emphasis on Coach Rick Carlisle’s system ever since he joined the Indiana Pacers. This has netted them some success with Tyrese Haliburton this year and the rest of their young guns. But, there will be games where they exhibit lapses despite big plays on one end of the court. Bennedict Mathurin felt this way about their loss to the Toronto Raptors.
Pacers fans would think that Bennedict Mathurin did a great job for them. After all, he got the team 34 points while knocking down 11 out of his 15 field goal attempts. His five assists and nine rebounds also proved that he can be used by Coach Rick Carlisle in any role. However, Mathurin posits that he should have been better on defense despite these big numbers.
Tony East of Sports Illustrated noted that the Pacers forward thought his defense was “really bad” against the Raptors. “I take accountability,” were then the words he dropped after they fell short with an eight-point deficit. What’s his proposed solution moving forward? Bounce back immediately in the next game when they play the New Orleans Pelicans.
That team is deep and diverse when it comes to their forwards. Mathurin will have to bang bodies with Zion Williamson on the inside but might also get switched to defend Brandon Ingram on the perimeter. All of these will come into play if he wishes for the Pacers to get their 34th win of the season to usurp the Miami Heat, and Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference standings.
Raptors scorch the Pacers
It was a back-and-forth slugfest between these two teams which was decided in the fourth quarter. RJ Barrett had a 24-point outing while Scottie Barnes delivered an insane triple-double with 21 points with 12 assists and rebounds. All of this was a little bit too much for the Pacers.
The bright silver lining is that everyone was contributing to the loss. Tyrese Haliburton struggled but still passed effectively which netted him nine dimes and seven points. Myles Turner also had a double-double with 11 boards and 16 rebounds. Pascal Siakam, Jalen Smith, TJ McConnell, and Andrew Nembhard all stepped up to get some buckets.
Had they not struggled much on offense, the Pacers would have wiped the Raptors.
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