Pacers vs. Raptors Preview and Game Thread

Mar 22, 2023 - 10:03 PM

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The Indiana Pacers (32-40) are north of the border on Wednesday night to finish their season series with the Toronto Raptors (35-37).

The Pacers are not only finishing the series, their trying to sweep the series after winning the first two games that were played at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. This time around, the Raptors are still battling for a good playoff spot, while the Pacers are leaning toward focusing on the draft lottery, despite the math keeping them in the play-in hunt.

Injuries of various severity are keeping the Pacers short-handed as they head down the stretch of the regular season. Although, Chris Duarte and Tyrese Haliburton are now questionable, so if they are available, suddenly the Pacers are fully loaded once again for a challenging end to the current road trip.

This will be a homecoming for Andrew Nembhard and Oshae Brissett and at least a Canadian homecoming for Bennedict Mathurin who hails from Montreal. They have already garnered plenty of attention before the tip and will have some strong pockets of fans rooting for them during the game.

The Raptors are significant favorites considering the stakes for both teams, but that hasn’t seemed to predict anything lately with regard to the Pacers.

DraftKings Odds: Raptors -9, O/U 234 (latest DraftKings odds here)

When: 7:30 p.m. ET

Where: Sscotiabank Arena, Toronto, ON

TV: Bally Sports Indiana/Bally Sports + app

Radio: 93.5 FM/107.5 FM

Projected Starting Lineups:

Pacers: Andrew Nembhard, Buddy Hield, Aaron Nesmith, Jordan Nwora, Myles Turner

Hornets: Fred Van Vleet, Scottie Barnes, O.G Anunoby, Pascal Siakam, Jacob Poeltl

Injuries

IND: Chris Duarte - questionable (sore left ankle), Tyrese Haliburton - questionable (right ankle sprain), Kendall Brown - out (right tibia stress fracture)

TOR: Scottie Barnes - questionable (sore left wrist), Dalano Banton - out (left thumb sprain), Otto Porter Jr. - out (left foot surgery - second toe dislocation)

Please share your thoughts and observations on the game in the comments.