Pacers at Raptors
THE STORY: The Toronto Raptors can only imagine how things would have worked out for them had they kept Roy Hibbert. The Raptors will get another firsthand look at the towering center's talents on Friday night as Hibbert and the Indiana Pacers visit the Air Canada Centre. Hibbert was selected 17th overall by Toronto in the 2008 draft, but his rights were immediately dealt to the Pacers in a deal that sent fellow center Jermaine O'Neal to Canada. O'Neal fizzled in his time with the Raptors, while Hibbert has emerged as one of the most well-rounded big men in the Eastern Conference. The 7-foot-2 behemoth had a double-double in the first meeting between the teams this season, a 90-85 Indiana victory back on Dec. 28. Hibbert is the centerpiece – literally – of a Pacers team that is off to a fast start, with seven wins in its first 10 games. Toronto is headed in the other direction, having dropped four of five and may be without leading scorer Andrea Bargnani, who suffered a strained calf in Wednesday's loss to Sacramento.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Fox Sports Indiana, TSN2.
ABOUT THE PACERS (7-3): Indiana has been using defense and scoring depth to subdue one team after another this season. The Pacers come into Friday's action allowing the third-fewest points in the league at 89.4 per game, limiting teams to 41.5 percent from the field. With six scorers in double figures and a seventh – guard George Hill – knocking on the door at 9.4 points per game, Indiana has a number of different offensive options at its disposal.
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (4-7): The absence of Bargnani would be devastating to a team already struggling to score points. The 7-footer, who averages 22.3 points per game, left in the second half of Wednesday's game and appeared to be in considerable pain. An MRI was scheduled for Thursday but the team did not reveal the results, saying only that Bargnani would be evaluated during Friday's shootaround and his status updated sometime during the day.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. The Pacers have won four of the last five meetings between the teams.
2. Hibbert is averaging 9.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in 12 career meetings against Toronto, but many of those games saw him play fewer than 20 minutes.
3. Since hitting a career-high five 3-pointers in a win against Cleveland on Jan. 4, Toronto guard DeMar DeRozan has gone five games without making a shot from beyond the arc.