Pacers at Raptors
Both teams on back to backs...both teams had to travel either last night or today. Both teams played very similar games yesterday...low scoring defensive battles against teams who struggled on offense.
The Pacers game was clunky against the Cavs. The Cavs play hard, and the Pacers had to work hard yesterday. George Hill played a lot of tough minutes against Kyrie...West and Hibbert banged all day with Varejao and Thompson. Lance and Paul George should be good to go, and the bench played really solid minutes yesterday. I expect the bench guys to play even more today.
I'm looking at the box score of the Raptors game yesterday, and they pretty much have 3 guys that come off the bench, and that's it. Hansbrough only played 7 minutes so I'm not really counting that, and any game against the Bulls regardless of the score will be physical. I really don't see an advantage for either team on that front, but the Pacers definitely have a deeper bench which could be beneficial for the 2h energy.
I'm really surprised at the line of this game. I thought it would be Pacers -10 or so. Raptors have won 7 out of their last 9, but there's only 1 good win (at OKC). Other than that their wins are against CHI, NYK and DAL. Not exactly big time wins. The other weird thing is the Raptors are clearly playing better on the road than at home. They have only won 3 out their last 10 at home against NYK, PHI, and WAS. This game is at home for the Raptors which, crazy to say, may be a bad thing for them.
Like I mentioned yesterday, this is a great stretch for the Pacers to pile up wins. I can see them in a really good groove right now, and they can easily get a 10-12 game winning streak. They want the #1 seed really bad, and that's a really good motivating factor to not get lazy through these stretches of games against lesser opponents. They absolutely look at how Miami is playing, and currently the Pacers are 2 games up on them and they would love nothing more than to extend that lead.
I've liked what I've seen from Granger so far. He's still getting into the groove of the game flow, but his speed and power is back, and for the first time in a loooong time he looks healthy on the court. It's a pretty unheard of situation to have a guy with his talent and leadership actually coming off the bench, but he seems to be ok with it as he's getting integrated back into the team. I have to believe it's a little disheartening for a Pacers opponent to make their substitutions to give their starters a break, and then the Pacers make their substitutions and guys the caliber of Granger and Scola check into the game. I think that's going to be a key today.
I get the best team in the league playing a sub .500 team who doesn't play good at home, both teams off of back to backs, and the best team in the league has the best player on the court combined with a big front line with lots of depth against a team who lacks depth and size on the front line, and I only have to lay 5 points? I'll take it. Pacers -5
Couldn't really figure out a play on the 1h. Pacers have struggled in the first halves, but I just don't trust this Raptors team in this spot. They could be ahead or really close at half (and actually I hope it is...Pacers 2h bets have been fantastic), but I don't feel confident about it.
Still going to roll with the OH system. Starting with 1h under like usual.
Let's hope for blowout today gents
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