Raptors vs. Pacers, Nov. 18 Takeaways: Poeltl, Barrett lead way for 3rd win

Role players like Agbaji, Temple did all of the little things

Toronto escaped from the cellar of the league on Monday night, defeating the Indiana Pacers 130-119 on the back of 39 efficient points from R.J. Barrett and 30 uber efficient points from Jakob Poeltl.

Garrett Temple and Ochai Agbaji put in special “little things” performances to provide serious impact, and Gradey Dick made some timely shots as well. Pascal Siakam finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists back where it all began, but a shorthanded Pacers team (missing Myles Turner, Aaron Nesmith, Andrew Nembhard, Ben Shepherd, Isaiah Jackson) dropped to 6-8 on the season.

The Raptors improved to 3-4 at home, and will host the Minnesota Timberwolves next on Thursday.

Here are takeaways from a much needed, morale boosting win:

Poeltl goes for thirltl again

One game after recording a career-high 35 points against the defending champs, Jakob Poeltl was uber efficient once again for 30 points on 13-of-18 shooting from the field.

Poeltl’s night was made all the easier when Myles Turner was ruled out with a calf issue, and with Isaiah Jackson also ruled out, the Pacers had little to offer by way of resistnce inside. This is by far the most prolific stretch of Poeltl’s career, now averaging 30 points and 15 rebounds per game over the last three.

In recapping this game over at Locked On Raptors, Sean Woodley and I discussed whether he might be the third-best centre performing in the East right now. Jarrett Allen and Karl-Anthony Towns have been fantastic for Cleveland and New York, respectively, but it’s just Nikola Vucevic who might have the best case after that. Joel Embiid, as we know, has missed the majority of games and doesn’t look anywhere near MVP level in the games he’s played thus far, Kristaps Porzingis is out injured, and Bam Adebayo hasn’t shot the ball well from the field.

Masai Ujiri’s comments that Poeltl is a top-10 centre in the league are looking pretty good at least over the last week.

Barrett finds the zone

I made the comparison of Gradey Dick dealing with increased physicality to an athlete going to train in high altitude and you can make a similar comparison with R.J. Barrett having to take on the bulk of the playmaking duties.

The massive load that has seen him overextended of late must have had him overjoyed going up against a Pacers defence that offered little resistance. Barrett finished with 39 points on 13-of-21 shooting, the ease with which he was able to find shooters (Raptors shot 14-of-29 from deep on the night) opened up his drive game that much more.

Throw in the attention Jakob Poeltl received because of his dominant scoring as well as Myles Turner and Aaron Nesmith’s absences, this had field day written all over it for Barrett. If that wasn’t enough, you knew it was Barrett’s day when he knocked three triples in the very first quarter.

This was a much needed efficient night for Barrett, having shot 42-for-106 (39.6%) on twos and 12-for-49 (24.5%) on threes over the previous eight games.

What was most encouraging about this performance was the manner in which he closed out the fourth quarter, scoring 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting and getting to the free-throw line eight times. He finished 9-for-12 from the line for the night.

Agbaji goes full little things king mode

It’s incredible we’ve reached the point where the Raptors are actually trusting Ochai Agbaji to shoot corner threes in late clock scenarios. Better yet, we’ve come to expect they’ll go in.

Agbaji knocked down another couple of threes from the corner in this one, but what shouldn’t get lost in the shuffle is the stuff he’s been doing. Agbaji was all over the floor in this one, rebounding, blocking shots, and making plays for teammates with six(!) assists.

The Kansas product’s best moment came after he got blocked on a 3-point attempt midway through the first quarter. Sensing the opportunity for a hit ahead, Mathurin launched the ball forward but Agbaji hustled back to steal the pass. He pushed the ball to Barrett, who attempted a pull-up three that fell short but Agbaji was already underneath the basket in that time to secure the rebound and put-back.

Temple pulls out a washing king special

Garrett Temple checked into the Pistons game on Friday for two minutes and finished a plus-2 but committed a turnover and a foul. Speaking on the broadcast, he said he wasn’t happy about that and wanted to make sure he was ready the next time he got an opportunity.

Darko Rajakovic called his number again on this night and, with his first opportunity on the floor, Temple hit a three, picked up a steal and led a break for an assist to Poeltl, beat Obi Toppin to a loose ball by committing to a full length dive, and played some really good defence. In 5:29 of action in the second quarter, Temple finished a plus-17 as part of a game-breaking run.

Then in the third quarter, the Pacers just started to make things interesting when Rajakovic called on Temple again. The 38-year-old responded by collecting a steal on the next possession and pushing the ball down the floor to find Jamison Battle for a three.

Hard to out-sloppy the Pacers

One thing you can’t say about Toronto is that this team doesn’t play hard. If, as an opponent, you show up with little care and effort, you are going to have your work cut out for you. That’s what Indiana learned Monday night.

Believe it or not, the Raptors had 10 turnovers in the third quarter alone. There were 23 turnovers in all but it didn’t matter because the Pacers play some of the most undisciplined basketball you’ll ever see.

Indiana only had 10 turnovers for the game but were actually more careless with the basketball by way of their shot selection, led by their leader Tyrese Haliburton. The 24-year-old has been one of my favourite players since entering the league but currently looks a complete shadow of himself. He’s averaging just 16.2 points per game this season and his 29.4% shooting from three is a big reason why.

Decisions like the one below will keep him struggling:

Notes

• Trying to contest a T.J. McConnell layup, Jamal Shead took a hard fall and seemed to land on his wrists. He looked in a lot of pain as he headed back to the locker room but returned to the bench before the quarter ended.

• Bruno Fernando, who hurt his ankle against the Celtics but played through the rest of that night, sat out this contest.

• I highlighted Boucher’s amazing hustle in the last game against Boston and he had an incredible sequence in this one, blocking two 3-point attempts on the same possession to cause a shot clock violation.

• Someone asked Scottie Barnes online to wear a Bruce Brown fit and #4 pulled off a great cowboy fit for this game: