Pacers at Raptors
The Indiana Pacers are still trying to figure out how to run the offense with Victor Oladipo back and they are about to run into the hottest team in the league. The Pacers will try to figure things out quickly on Wednesday when they visit the Toronto Raptors, who are winners of 11 straight.
Oladipo has yet to reach double figures in three games since returning from surgery to repair a torn quad tendon and is a combined 8-of-39 from the floor, including 3-of-21 from 3-point range. "You've got to play the game," Indiana coach Nate McMillan told reporters of Oladipo. "This is his October. He's trying to play himself into a rhythm. Some of those looks are open looks. He's not going to get a rhythm unless he shoots it and gets his confidence. The only way to get that is to play." The Raptors, who visit the Pacers in the back end of the home-and-home set on Friday, are not having any trouble finding a rhythm of late despite players going in an out of the lineup due to injury and rolled over the Chicago Bulls 129-102 on Sunday. Toronto matched the franchise's longest winning streak with that triumph as Terence Davis took his turn as the scoring star with a career-high 31 points.
TIME: 7:30 p.m. ET. TV: FS Indiana, TSN1/4/5, RDS2
ABOUT THE PACERS (31-19): Oladipo is on a minutes restriction and is coming off the bench while trying to find his spots in an offense that had seven scorers averaging in double figures prior to his return. "I feel like I'm taking great shots," Oladipo told reporters. "Feel like I'm in a rhythm, just can't think about it. Just gotta keep shooting. I worked pretty much all summer on my jumper, changing stuff, so I just gotta let it fly, man. I missed a lot, obviously, a lot of basketball, and maybe the rhythm might be off." Oladipo wasn't the only player struggling during Monday's 112-103 home loss to Dallas as starting point guard Malcolm Brogdon went 6-of-17 from the floor after going 4-of-13 in a 92-85 loss to New York on Saturday.
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (36-14): The spot for a high-scoring, strong-shooting sixth man is open with Norman Powell going down with a broken finger last week and Davis stated his case for the job by going 12-of-15 from the floor against the Bulls, including 6-of-7 from beyond the arc. "It's not surprising," Toronto guard Fred VanVleet told reporters of Davis. "For most of us, we kind of saw what kind of player he was going to be early on. He just kept getting better and better throughout the year. He puts the work in. It's really cool for all of us as teammates to see. ... We're all happy for him." The Raptors also got 15 points off the bench from power forward Chris Boucher, who is getting extra minutes with Marc Gasol (hamstring) sidelined.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Raptors SF Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (ankle) sat out the last four games and is day-to-day.
2. Pacers SF T.J. Warren sat out Monday and is questionable while in the league's concussion protocol.
3. Indiana earned a 120-115 home overtime win in the first meeting on Dec. 23.