The Pacers will face the Toronto Raptors in opening round of the 2016 NBA Playoffs. It became official late Tuesday when Miami held on to win in Detroit, 99-93. The Pacers did their part, too, handling the New York Knicks, 102-90.
So, it’ll be No. 2 Toronto (55-26) vs. No. 7 Indiana (44-37).
See Also: Pacers clinch playoff berth
Most of the Pacers were out of the locker room, in their car and en route to the team plane to Milwaukee when their seed became official at 9:54 pm ET. Starting point guard George Hill was getting dressed in front of his locker as we informed him of Detroit’s loss.
“We’re going to have our hands tied with them,” said Hill, who’s reached the postseason in seven of his eight years. “They’re a great team. They have a lot of good players and they’re well-coached. It’s going to take a team effort.”
(Good thing Ty Lawson renewed his passport last month.)
“Toronto had a good season,” center Ian Mahinmi said. “They’re a team that executes well. They have a lot of power at all five positions. It’s a team that defensively knows what they’re doing. It’s going to be a good matchup. There’s going to be a good playoff intensity. I think that we’re ready for them.
“It felt like we haven’t played the best against them this year and for us, it’s going to be like ‘All right, man, it’s time for us to get a win.’ We’ll go over there, play hard, and try to win one or two.”
These two teams have never met in the postseason. In fact, Toronto doesn’t have much playoff history at all. The Raptors have advanced to the postseason eight times in its 21-year history but only once — in 2001 — have they won a series.
Last postseason, they were swept (0-4) by the Washington Wizards. In 2014, the Brooklyn Nets prevailed, 4-3.
The Pacers, meanwhile, have made the playoffs 21 times since 1990, more than any other Eastern Conference team.
The Raptors won the regular season series, 3-1.
“We’ll be ready, regardless,” Rodney Stuckey said, shrugging his shoulders when asked about facing Toronto. He’s just happy to be back in the playoffs. “We’ll have a couple days to prepare for them and just go out and play basketball.”
DeMar DeRozan leads the Raptors in scoring with 23.6 points, along with 4.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists. Kyle Lowry, an All-Star each of the last two years, is worth 21.4 points, 6.4 assists, and 4.8 rebounds per game. Jonas Valanciunas has given the Pacers issues historically, and Luis Scola obviously knows his former team well.
See Also: Q&A with Scola
The 2016 NBA Playoffs begin Saturday, April 16th. Game days and times have yet to be announced.