The Toronto Raptors scored their next victory against the Indiana Pacers. Jakob Pöltl showed the best game of his young career.
What a game in Canada! Two of the Eastern Conference’s most offensive teams were almost non-existent for more than 48 minutes, and whenever Toronto had actually moved away, Indiana was once again within striking distance. Only free throws of the once again really good DeMar DeRozan (26 points) in the final minute finally brought the decision. But it wasn’t necessarily the Guard-Play that was the special feature of the Raptors in this game.
Toronto, which is already one of the best teams in terms of points in the Paint, set a new seasonal record with 70 points in the Zone. One of the main reasons for this: Jakob Pöltl. The Austrian put up a career high with 18 points and hit each of his eight throws out of the field, besides he picked up 6 rebounds and blocked 2 throws.”We’ve been working a lot on my finishing lately, and I think that pays off”, said Pöltl.
This game was a sensational success, although the Pacers had big problems keeping the Raptors from scoring points anyway. In addition to DeRozan and Pöltl, five other Raptors landed in Double Figures. Even the grandiose Victor Oladipo (36 points) could not completely conceal this, even though he was close.