Indiana Pacers: 5 Keys To Completing The Upset
4. Keeping Raptors Off The Foul Line
During the regular season, only the Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves got the foul line more times per game than the Toronto Raptors. Kyle Lowry may have turned into Skinny Kyle Lowry, but he’s still a bowling ball rolling through the lane, while DeMar DeRozan finished third in the NBA in free throw attempts per game (8.4).
In Game 1, despite nothing clicking for Toronto on offense, the Raptors still got to the line a whopping 38 times — 13.3 more times than their regular season average. They only made 26 of those attempts for a 68.4 percent conversion rate, but that still accounted for nearly 29 percent of their offense.
Like the massive rebounding discrepancy, Toronto’s 38-29 advantage in free throw attempts didn’t wind up changing the final result. But if the Pacers can address this issue and keep the Raptors off the foul line, they’ll really put the pressure on Lowry and DeRozan to step up — for real — for the first time in three playoff appearances and hit some shots from the floor.
Next: No. 3