(2) Toronto Raptors (56-26) vs. (7) Indiana Pacers (45-37)
The Toronto Raptors and Indiana Pacers will tip off the 2016 NBA playoffs on Saturday at 12:30 PM EST on ESPN. The Toronto Raptors come into this series with a lot of momentum, having won 7 of their last 10 games and they look to make quick work of the Indiana Pacers, a team who they defeated three times in four regular season meetings. The Raptors are hoping to make a deep playoff run and prove to the rest of the NBA that they are serious contenders. As for the Pacers, they hope to upset the Raptors and see their superstar Paul George have a huge playoff series.
If the Raptors want to eliminate the Pacers quickly, they need both DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry to prove that they are the kind of one-two punch capable of leading a team deep into the playoffs. Even though the Raptors have the second best record in the Eastern Conference, they still have a bad taste in their mouths after getting swept by the Washington Wizards in the first round of the playoffs last year. They folded like cheap tents in that series and immediately made everyone in the NBA question their toughness and legitimacy as contenders in the East.
Game 1 of this series is crucial because of what happened to the Raptors last season. The Raptors need to win this game because doing so will set the tone for the rest of the series. If the Raptors get the win on Saturday, odds are good that they'll settle in and win the series in five games. If on the other hand, Paul George leads the Pacers to victory, we could be in for a very interesting and long series.
As was hinted in the previous paragraph, the Pacers need to win Game 1 of this series so as to place doubt in the minds of the Raptors. The Raptors are a mentally fragile team in the playoffs and a loss in the opening game of the series might be too much for them to handle. Paul George has to do everything he can to will his team to victory so as to make the Raptors vulnerable.
If Paul George wants to lead his team to a first round upset over the Raptors, he's going to have to get some help from his friends. Monta Ellis needs to step up and average more than the 13.8 points per game that he has been averaging. In addition, Ian Mahinmi and Jordan Hill need to do everything they can to keep Jonas Valanciunas and Bismack Biyombo off the glass. The Raptors have some big bodies inside with Valanciunas and Biyombo. The Pacers must do everything they can to make sure those guys don't have their way inside.
Even though the Raptors gagged in the playoffs last year against the Wizards, I'm optimistic that this time around, we'll see a different result from them. The Raptors are now the #2 seed in the East as opposed to being the #4 seed. Plus, the Pacers didn't even make the playoffs last year. Paul George is trying to lead his team to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since his gruesome leg injury and to do it against a team like the Raptors would take a Herculean effort on his end.
Ultimately, I have the Raptors winning this series in five games. They have the better team on paper and they took three out of four games in the regular season. Even though the Raptors had a disappointing result in the playoffs last year, they are still the superior team in this series and deserve the respect of a number two seed. If the Raptors don't win this series, it will be a very difficult off-season for Masai Ujiri and company.
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