"Full Rebuild" Pacers Crush "All In" Raptors
Raptors beaten by Canadians in Cruel Twist of Hollywood Fate
Losing isn’t fun…but there are levels to it. You can lose a close one. You can get blown out. You can lose on a bad call. But one of the worst ways to lose as an athlete is to a previous teammate. The razzing doesn’t end for decades. One of the worst ways to lose as Canadians is to watch a group of young Canadians playing for an American team come into your building…in a critical game…and beat the hell out of you.
Andrew Nembhard wasn’t playing. All the love in warmups from us friendly Canadians was instantly converted to jet fuel as he came out to start the game absolutely blazing. Every player has a ‘revenge’ team…one they like to get up a little bit more for when playing. Apparently Andrew took offense when the Raptors didn’t pick him cause he loves Canada but doesn’t like the Raptors. The start to the game was exactly what the young Pacers needed on the road and the Raptors started wilting mid first quarter and didn’t recover until just after the 3rd when they finally tied it up. That’s the kind of advantage being ready to play can bring your team.
A lot of Raptor fans were upset Gary, Scottie and Precious were out…putting the L on them. That would be the easy cop out. The reality of this situation is the Pacers just ripped their team down to the bare foundation this summer. There is absolutely no reason for them to beat the Raptors in an important game in Toronto. They didn’t have the one young Star they bet big on, Tyrese Haliburton. They also didn’t have Duarte. That’s the thing about excuses…*hole has one. The Pacers didn’t show up looking for excuses. They showed up looking to show some Canadians who they are.
Pascal showed up…just not until the 4th quarter. When you’re a big star and can get your 31 points anytime you try you don’t bring it like Nembhard right from the tip-off. By the 4th the rest of his teammates were gassed from scratching and clawing to stay in this game for 3 quarters already. Despite the late arrival the Raptors found themselves only down by 4 with 1:24 left on the clock and Jak on the charity stripe for 2. Regular readers here knew what was about to happen. Double Brick. Pascal then blocked the Huge Myles Turner at the rim giving the now on life support Raptors one more gasp of air. Freddy decided a Hero Ball 3 pointer from 30 feet was the right play. He got all backboard but forgot to call Bank Shot so it didn’t fall. Back at the other end it was a proper Shakespearean ending when none other than Andrew Nembhard buried a properly worked for 3 pointer ending this game the way the author intended…with Raptor blood all over the court. Let’s single out some actors for awards they might not like in this Academy awards level Loss.
Best Actor - Pascal
While hard to even notice for much of the movie Pascal dominated in the tragic ending. When he did decide to play he was unstoppable as the Rebuilding Pacers had no one that could stop him. Too bad it wasn’t Camaroon night in Yaounde as he might have cared more.
Best Supporting Actor - Freddy
Dominated the Ball offensively shooting a terribly inefficient 9 for 22 setting up the tradgedy for it’s bloodly ending. The 30 ft Hero shot at the end was too Hollywood for my liking as nobody in real life would take such a low percentage shot with the game on the line. Reguardless Freddy has a legion of ‘don’t complain’ fans that simply love everything he does so this performance will be considered amazing despite the 5 turnovers and terrible point of attack D.
Best Style - Gary
This award was actually won a few days ago as Gary showed up to a Team sponsored community event in an ultra stylish black suit. Reminded me of the Film Meet Joe Black for his calm demeanour but without Anthony Hopkins. He was a lock for the award but decided to kiss babies anyway just because he likes to and nobody’s saying no when you look that good.
Best Short Role - Malachi
Lost in the Jungles of South America this long forgotten actor suddenly walked on the floor and made an impact! He didn’t steal the show but he was there and he tried and we all appreciated it. We have no clue where to mail his award cause we’re sure to never see him again.
Best Visual Effects - Christian
He just looks so damn imposing on the floor! A Giant Tower of Koloko patrolling the Rim! He did almost nothing in 10 minutes and Boucher outplayed him by a country mile but Koloko gets the award and the fan love. Looks matter more than substance here obviously.
Best Sound - Bennedict
When this guy drives down the lane and stuffs it the whole world shakes. Young stars sometimes have that ‘it’ factor and he’s got ‘it’!!! Just get the Hell out of the Way and let him lite the NBA on fire ok.
Best Director - Rick Carlisle
Given a B grade movie budget and putting together a quality film like the Pacers have this year deserves props. Letting his Canadians start on Canadian basketball night in Toronto isn’t something many NBA head coaches would do (Win everygame Nick) but he did it and he was fairly rewarded by his players and now by Raptors Truth. Congrats! I know this award means a lot to you.
It wasn’t a great ending for the Raptors but not all movies end the way you want them to nowadays. While the Raptors will most likely still hold off the Pacers for one of the final play in spots the Pacers made their point tonight. They are the younger, up and coming team and Canadian night in Toronto isn’t going to be fun for quite a few years I suspect. It will hurt us each and everytime and endless articles begging for the Raptors to trade for our ‘Canadian’ players will be written. None of them will ever be read by Raptors management living in an Ivory CN tower-like office. It’s a shame because deep inside Canadian fans want to watch Canadians succeed in the NBA just as much as they want to watch the Raptors win. Heartless team management simply can’t comprehend that deep type of love for an ‘asset’. Demar understands having been adopted by Canadians.
That was beautiful once again. Art
Pacers coaching was better. Rick Carlisle is a very good coach. Yes the Pacers did trade some of their veteran players, but they added some nice young pieces like Haliburton and Nesmith in the trades plus their 2022 draft picks, Mathurin and Nembhard, have excelled. If not for the Haliburton injury, the Paces would probably be a playoff team. Raptors still control their own fate.