Preview: Pacers at Raptors

[March 31, 2017]  The Indiana Pacers aren't playing like a team that wants to make the playoffs, and their latest slide is threatening to plummet the team out of the top eight in the Eastern Conference. The Pacers will try once again to turn things around when they visit the Toronto Raptors on Friday.

Indiana dropped four of its last five games to fall below .500 and has not earned back-to-back wins since bridging January and February with a seven-game winning streak, pushing the team down to eighth place in the East. The Pacers opened a three-game road trip with a 110-97 loss at Memphis on Wednesday and will play its next four games against teams above them in the standings, including two against the fourth-place Raptors. Toronto is trying to track down the Washington Wizards for the No. 3 spot in the East and had a six-game winning streak come to an end with a 110-106 home loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday. The Raptors still have an outside shot at the top spot in the East and sit one game behind the Wizards with seven left in the regular season.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Indiana, Sportsnet One (Toronto)

ABOUT THE PACERS (37-38): All-Star forward Paul George cited a lack of energy as the reason Indiana allowed 72 first-half points on Wednesday to a Memphis team that was averaging 89 total points in four straight losses entering the contest. The Pacers are yielding an average of 115 points in their last five losses and have dropped six in a row on the road. "With our remaining games, the schedule doesn't get any easier," Indiana coach Nate McMillan told reporters. "The teams that we're facing from here on out are playoff teams and they're fighting for something. So it's on us. We've just got to find a way to dig deep and put fatigue behind us."

ABOUT THE RAPTORS (45-30): Toronto could blame a lack of energy on the defensive end for why it allowed 44 fourth-quarter points in Wednesday's loss to the Hornets, which came after a third quarter in which the Raptors held Charlotte to 16 points. "I can’t see how we lost this game," veteran forward P.J. Tucker told the Toronto Star. "Especially when you consider the last few games, how the season is coming to an end, how close the race is. We can’t come out like that. There’s no excuse for us coming out and playing like that. We got to be better." Toronto is close to at least clinching homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs with a six-game lead over fifth-place Atlanta.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Raptors All-Star SG DeMar DeRozan is averaging 32.8 points on 50.4 percent shooting and 5.6 assists in the last five games.

2. Pacers PF Thaddeus Young collected 16 points and 13 rebounds on Wednesday for his first double-double since Dec. 22.

3. Toronto outrebounded Indiana 51-33 while cruising to a 116-91 home win on March 19.

PREDICTION: Raptors 113, Pacers 102

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