Holy Smokes, That Raptors Comeback

The Toronto Raptors opened the fourth quarter against the Indiana Pacers on a 21-2 run, but their entire fourth quarter was really just one big run. They won it 25-9 to take a thrilling, critical Game 5 victory in a game where they trailed for the first 44 minutes, and now they’re one game away from their second playoff series win in franchise history.

And it took all they had to come back. Paul George was tremendous tonight, scoring 39 points on 19 shots. Across the aisle, DeMar DeRozan finally broke out and scored 34 points of his own, but Indiana was in control all-game long.

Until the fourth, that is, when they turned it over five times and let Bismack Biyombo turn into a beast and grab seven boards. They scored all of two points in ten minutes or so and let the Raptors get whatever they wanted, which was in stark contrast to a disjointed first three quarters.

The Toronto crowd was fervent and loud as hell the entire game, and Drake got in on the action during ( and after!) the win:

Toronto’s bench was huge in their run, and Biyombo, Corey Joseph and Norman Powell all came up big. Speaking of Powell, look at this steal and jam:

For their part, the Pacers woke up at the end of the quarter and scored seven of their nine in the last two minutes and change. George made a smart read and found Solomon Hill for the game-tying three, which he unfortunately held onto for a tenth of a second too long.

Toronto now just has to win one of the next two games to advance to the second round for the first time since 2001. Game 6 is in Indiana on Friday, but home-court advantage hasn’t meant much in this series.