Jakob Poeltl and RJ Barrett’s dominant run continued tonight against the Indiana Pacers, and this time, it resulted in a win.
Barrett poured in 39 points, the most for a Canadian Raptor, adding nine rebounds and five assists, all while shooting 62% from the field. Meanwhile, Poeltl dropped in 30 points again, nabbing 15 rebounds and blocking two shots. The duo was particularly potent in the pick-and-roll where they carved up the Pacers defense, which was without Aaron Nesmith, Andrew Nembhard and Myles Turner.
For Indiana, Pascal Siakam poured in 25 points in his return to Toronto, while Bennedict Mathurin dropped 28, but Tyrese Haliburton struggled, shooting 5-for-18 from the field and only notching four assists in a loss.
The Raptors held their biggest halftime lead of the season tonight, leading by 12 after two quarters. That was thanks in part to some awesome basketball from Ochai Agbaji, Davion Mitchell, and Gradey Dick — who all shot the ball well. The Raptors, in general, shot 49% from three tonight as they routed the Pacers to snap their seven-game losing streak.
Mitchell finished with 11 points. Dick put up 15 points and three made 3’s, and Agbaji dropped in 11 points and added six assists while playing stellar defense throughout.
Perhaps the most surprising contributor tonight was veteran Garrett Temple, who played 11 minutes, was +9 in those minutes, made a three, got 2 steals, and made a few assists that helped spur a Raptors run to finish the second quarter.
The Raptors gave Poeltl the player-of-the-game chain, while Temple got the defensive crown, a new addition to the celebrations in Toronto.
If you’d like to watch a more analytical breakdown of the game, check out my film breakdown of how Poeltl and Barrett carved up the Pacers. You can subscribe to the Raptors Republic Youtube Channel for more videos like it.
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