Raptors vs Pacers @ <font color="red">Toronto Raptors (27-36) vs Indiana pacers (47-16) TipeOff Time: 7:10 p.m. EST TV (Local): Sportsnet Ontario (Raptors region) Arena: Conseco FieldHouse </font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- The Indiana Pacers try to extend a five-game winning streak and match their victory total from last season on Tuesday when they host the Toronto Raptors at Conseco Fieldhouse. The Pacers are the only team to clinch a playoff spot thus far and are on pace for the first 50-win season since 1999-00, when they lost the NBA Finals in six games against the Los Angeles Lakers. They have been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs each of the last three years and were 48-34 in 2002-03 to tie Philadelphia for third place in the Eastern Conference. Indiana remained one-half game ahead of Sacramento for the league's best record with a 103-94 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday. </div> nba.com's Preview <font color="Red">Starting Lineups </font> <font color="Red">The Raptors: </font> Rod Strickland/Vince Carter/Morris Peterson/Donyell Marhsall/Chris Bosh <font color="Red">Sixth Man: </font> Dion Glover <font color="Red">Coach: </font> Kevin O'Neill <font color="Red">Indiana Pacers:</font> Anthony Johnson/Reggie Miller/Ron Artest/Jermaine O'Neal/ Jeff Foster <font color="Red">Sixth Man: </font> Al Harington <font color="Red">Coach: </font> Rick Caralisle <font color="Red">Keys To The Game: </font> * Get the ball .. let Bosh and Marsh work in the post .. they might get JO in foulf trouble, or get easy baskets * Vince has to attack Ron, force Caralisle to double team him and create open shots for others * Firday's first half, and Sunday's second half together = WIN * Moe Pete and Palacio can't have another bad game, they have to play their "A" game in order to beat the mighty pacers * Free Throws and Rebounding are the biggest keys to this game <font color="Red">AC's Take: </font> Pacers are better than the Raptors in almost every single catagory, however I predict a very close game that will end in a Raptor victory ... Raps by 1! <div align="center"> </div>
Tinsley isn't back yet? I don't know if we should go inside to Bosh and Mash, maybe against Jeff Foster, but not against JO or Scott Pollard. I say Pacers by 2, I don't think the Raptors can win away in Indiana. Raptors Schedule Projections @Indiana - loss Cleveland - win Atlanta - win Utah - win Chicago - win @New Orleans - loss @Memphis - loss @Houston - loss @New York - loss (can win, but I dunno on the road) Memphis - win (Rose should be back) GS - win @Indiana - loss Milwaukee - win @Cleveland - win Indiana - loss @Detroit - loss Chicago - win Detroit - loss (I wanna be generous, but Detroit is good) @Milwaukee - loss That means we can approx. go 10-9 for the rest of the season which makes our record 37-45.
i was reading this article and it said theres a possbility that jalen rose might be in this game http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/TorontoSun/S.../09/375311.html i doubt he'll be in it, but if he does... theres a possiblity we might win this game, though, i don't want him to rush because if he re-injures his hand again, he'll be out for the rest of the season! if we win.. i'd say by 3 and if pacers do, i'll say by 8
I predict it'll be deja vu with Artest having his way with VC both on offense and on defense. Jermaine O'Neill, Al Harrington, and Jeff Foster will completely own the boards and just expose the Raptor's frontcourt. The Raps will have their share of runs but it won't be enough to get a win on the road. Pacers by 10.
This will tell me whether or not vince is going to let the same thing happen again with artest, I know artest is an amazing defender but it didn't even look like vince was looking to get to the basket in that previous game. In his last win he claimed about trying to be more aggressive throughout the game so I'll see if he carries that same mentality in the next game. I dont think the raptors will win this one based on talent alone but it'll give me an idea of how much they really want to make the playoffs. Pacers by 8
<font color="red"><font size="1">Preview edited by thefranchise3, I cleaned up some spacing and grammar</font></font> Air Canada, I specifically said in the Knicks game thread that I would have the preview done for tonight. There was no need for you to do it. Aside from that, I think the Pacers will hurt the Raptors playoff chances again, unless they come up with some kind of miracle. The Pacers have better talent and they've proven that throughout the season. This should be an easy win for them; Pacers by 10.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting thefranchise3:</div><div class="quote_post"><font color="red"><font size="1">Preview edited by thefranchise3, I cleaned up some spacing and grammar</font></font> Air Canada, I specifically said in the Knicks game thread that I would have the preview done for tonight. There was no need for you to do it. Aside from that, I think the Pacers will hurt the Raptors playoff chances again, unless they come up with some kind of miracle. The Pacers have better talent and they've proven that throughout the season. This should be an easy win for them; Pacers by 10.</div> First of all, there were no grammer errors in the preview ... ! Secondly, I didn't notice your notification, besides there was no preview when I loged in .. we should have it ahead of time so we can discuss the game and the predictions , espicially if it's not on the second day of Back To Back ! .. As for the game, this could be a first round matchup for the Raps. Another important point is that vince won't get much double team tonight, Ron will probably play him straight up, so no wide open shots for Donyell , Moe and the rest, they have to create their own shots
I can see the Raptors leading by the end of the first half but in the second they start to take more jump shots and stop doing the things that had them winning in the first place (like defend, play with energy etc..). Call me pessimistic but I can just smell this happening. Pacers by 8
Milt and Curry are starting, I don't know what KO thinks sometimes. Ahh, whatever, hope we have a good game.
Pacers by 6. Also I can see the raptors leading in the first half, but falling apart like we usually do in the second. I cant beleive how many games we have let slip away because we come out in the 3rd with no energy and dont play defense. We also settle for jumpshots way way way to much.
Anyone else also loving that we have Rod? 11 assists in the first half, and Carter has 21 points (10-14)
Rod is playing excellent and like I thought, vince isn't letting artest bully him like last time. Altho there's still a second half to go they're doing better then I thought they would
50-46 Raptors at the end of the first half. Vince Carter is playing great with 21 points on 10-14 shooting, Chris Bosh has 11 points, and Rod Strickland with 8 points and 11 assists at the end of the half. Right now the Raptors are playing well on both sides of the floor, I'm surprised, hopefully they can continue their success in the second half. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting Air Canada:</div><div class="quote_post">First of all, there were no grammer errors in the preview ... ! </div> Actually, there was, I also had to correct many spacing errors, there is no space between the last word and the explanation mark "!", also there are no spaces after the word inbetween the colen ":". What I mean is... "Vince is playing well !" -- Should be "Vince is playing well!" (notice the space). "Keys to the Game :" -- should be "Keys to the Game:" (notice the space). Now this is no where near an insult, this isn't a huge problem, I simply notified that I had to edit it. Not a big deal.
I must be psychic. Lets hope I am wrong for the second half. In other news...Rod Strickland brings an element that the Raptors have not seen since Rafer Alston. Which is a pass first point guard who can run the break and make a good decision. How long will it be until he is the starter? To be honest...I would much rather have him than Jalen running the point. He just makes better decisions with the ball as a point guard.
holy crap! strickland has 16 dimes!!! hes 3 boards shy of a triple double!! jeez, he better start the next game, i had no idea he still has this kind of game left in him...big up rod!
That shot looked like it was going in from Carter. Nice play though, fake baseline then back and use a pick by Bosh for the shot.
Yeah raptors are gonna loose, but I gotta say they've done a way better job then I thought they'd do. Props to them
