Community Picks: Dallas Mavericks 0% vs Oklahoma City Thunder 0%

At an early glance, this series should lean pretty favourably towards the Raptors. The Indiana Pacers haven't played well agaist the Raptors this season. They've won just one of four meetings in the regular season and got hammered earlier in April against Toronto's bench and reserves. Yet both these teams are eerily similar. Almost like looking at themselves in the mirror. The Pacers have been one of the best defensive teams in the league. They get steals, and they capitalize off those turnovers. That has led to give them the 3rd best defensive rating in the league. Toronto ranks just outside the top 10 in that category, but boast a more effective counter-attack. The Raptors play at a slower pace, but aim to get at the free throw line to rack up their points. The Pacers, on the other hand, settle for mid range shots when running their half-court offense. The Indiana Pacers are a good test and should be a stepping stone for the Raptors in round one. Both Toronto and Indiana own some of the best defensive lineups in the league, and this series could very well come down to which team can shut down the other. Raptors-Pacers will have 3 of the 15 best defensive lineups in the league, minimum 100 minute.s pic.twitter.com/7BZbaidsCx — Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) April 14, 2016 The similarity hasn't come out of the blue. Coach Dwane Casey was a defensive assistant coach and was Rick Carlisle's right-hand man with the Dallas Mavericks back in 2011. Carlisle was previously in the captain's chair in Indiana before he was let go, and the Pacers were looking to add a defensive-oriented coach. They eventually found their man in Frank Vogel. The Pacers are somewhat retooling after their championship window came to an end when Paul George suffered that horrifying injury at U.S.A. camp in 2014. Gone is defensive stallwart Roy Hibbert, as is the gritty and talented David West and versatile sixth man Lance Stephenson. The Raptors, on the other hand, are still growing into a perennial contender. Here are some key points the Raptors need to emphasize to control the series: Win Game 1: The Raptors have never won the first game of a playoff series, but that trend needs to get busted this year. Home court advantage is incredibly important in the postseason, especially for a team trying to get out of the first round for the first time since 2001.  Raptors are 0-7 in 1st-round series openers all-time. Historically, the team that takes Game 1 goes on to win the series 77% of the time — Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) April 16, 2016 Play the mismatches: The 6'7" DeMar DeRozan will be facing off against a 6'3" Monta Ellis. While Monta may be shifty, his defensive personality is a huge mismatch for a player like DeRozan, who likes to post up on the low block and work from there. With that height discrepancy, the Raptors should take advantage of DeRozan's strengths. Eliis' defense is better suited for cutting the passing lanes and finishing on the fast break. Share the load defensively against Paul George: The key for Toronto will be how to handle Paul George. With DeMarre Carroll slowly coming back from injury, it's doubtful he will be the only one trying to slow PG down. Dwane Casey said it before, you can't keep one guy on Paul George all night. Fortunately, the Raptors have an arsenal of players ready to step up, and who can share the daunting task of guarding the two-time All-NBA selection. Continue to Article

April 16, 2016 11:50:am EST

After three foot surgeries during the most trying year of his career, K.D. is back among the elite. Continue to Article

April 16, 2016 8:47:am EST

After three foot surgeries during the most trying year of his career, K.D. is back among the elite. Continue to Article

April 16, 2016 8:47:am EST

Last year's playoffs were chalky, with the top two seeds in each conference advancing to the conference finals and the top-seeded Warriors beating the Cavaliers - seeded second in the East - in the Finals. Before that, the sixth-seeded Nets beat No. 3 Toronto in the Eastern quarterfinals, fifth-seeded Memphis made a run to the Western Conference finals in 2013 and a No. 8 seed has beaten a No. 1 seed in 2012, 2011 and 2007. LeBron James needs no convincing. Continue to Article

April 16, 2016 2:46:am EST

One of the wackier NBA regular seasons in history is over, for better or worse, and the two-month playoff run is set to begin. With the first round upon us, the minds at Ball Don't Lie decided to preview each series. Here's our look at the No. 4-seeded Los Angeles Clippers and No. 5 Portland Trail Blazers. How They Got Here • Los Angeles : By bouncing back from both a crushing second-round collapse against the Houston Rockets with a stunning comeback of their own — convincing defensive linchpin DeAndre Jordan to pull an about-face, renege on his agreement to join the Dallas Mavericks in free agency, and return to L.A. on a new four-year deal. (ICYMI: emojis .) With Jordan back in the fold to anchor the Clippers' D, wreak havoc rolling to the rim and rejoin stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin in pursuit of a title, coach and president of basketball operations Doc Rivers set about improving what was one of the league's worst benches last season in his own inimitable way — chiefly, by acquiring players who had played well against his team at some point in the past or are related to him . The results were ... spotty, with an early heartbreaker of a loss to the Golden State Warriors suggesting the Clips as a clear tier below the Western elite and touching off a stretch of inconsistent play that had L.A. just three games over .500 heading into Christmas Day. And then things got worse, with Griffin tearing a tendon in his left quadriceps ... and then, stunningly, things got better, as the Clippers found new life by digging in on defense and doubling down on the CP3-DeAndre pick-and-roll. The Clippers made lemons into lemonade, going 30-15 with Griffin on the shelf, as the All-Star point guard masterfully orchestrated a pristinely spaced attack, aided by sharpshooter (and noted podcast host ) J.J. Redick turning in the best season of his career and leading the NBA in 3-point accuracy, while Jordan marshalled a defensive improvement that saw L.A. rank fifth in points allowed per possession during the three months Griffin missed to rehabilitate his quad injury ... and to heal the surgically repaired shooting hand that he broke in a fight with his friend (who is also the Clippers' assistant equipment manager ), an incident that also earned him a four-game suspension . The Clippers reactivated Griffin in time for the final seven games of the season; he's had a considerable amount of rust to knock off, but has also shown some flashes of his All-NBA-level all-around talent. On one hand, L.A. finished 5-0 in the games Griffin played, outscoring opponents by 73 points in his 123 minutes of floor time, and the Clips' starting five has absolutely crushed the competition since his return. On the other, those five games came against three lottery teams (the Wizards, the Lakers twice) and two injury-riddled lower-tier Western playoff squads (Dallas, Memphis), leaving room for some doubt as to whether relying on a sub-100 percent version of Griffin might come back to bite L.A. against healthy, talented, determined, real-deal opposition. Oh, and the Clippers have a mascot now. Many folks, including Kanye West , dislike him. I think that about covers it. • Portland: By proving that losing four members of a starting five with title aspirations isn't all that bad if you manage to hang on to the right one. Continue to Article

April 15, 2016 5:56:pm EST