INDIANAPOLIS — DeMar DeRozan’s struggles against the Indiana Pacers are getting most of the attention, but Kyle Lowry hasn’t been himself either.

What he has been, is once again much worse in the playoffs compared to his normal regular-season prowess.

If it happened once, it wouldn’t be a worry. Twice would bring concern, three times in four appearances, well, that starts to look like a trend.

Lowry was excellent for large portions of Toronto’s seven-game loss to Brooklyn two years ago, matching his regular-season true shooting percentage and coming close to his player efficiency rating.

But Lowry had a tough time in his first taste of playoff action while with the Houston Rockets in 2008-09, seeing all of his numbers dip significantly, and due to all of his injuries last year, had a disastrous series against Washington, playing the worst basketball of his entire career.

This time around, his career-best player efficiency rating (22.1) and true shooting percentage (.578) have plummeted to 11.9 and .437, respectively.

It would be easy for the all-star point guard to blame his late-season elbow injury for some of his troubles this time around (like 18.5% three-point shooting), but Lowry refuses to do that.

“Nope. I’m just missing shots. I get some good looks, but I’m just missing shots,” Lowry said when asked specifically if his elbow is a problem.

As Luis Scola has said, you play only good teams in the playoffs and you need to be prepared for the challenge. George Hill and other Pacers have given Lowry fits, as other post-season teams have done in the past.

Now the two-time all-star starter’s mettle is being tested, again.

Toronto’s season depends on him finding at least the form he had against the Nets twop springs ago.

PRESCIENT WORDS

Patrick Patterson correctly predicted what was going to happen before Game 4. The trouble was, he went out and played perhaps his worst playoff game ever, even though he knew what to expect.

“Paul George, Rodney Stuckey, C.J. Miles — they have been here before, they have been to the playoffs and went far in the playoffs, so every indication that we have as far as their physicality, we know we can’t get outmatched, we can’t get outmanned, we can’t be out pushed,” Patterson said before he and the Raptors suffered just that fate.

“We have to continue to fight and battle until the buzzer goes off because this team is a playoff team. They have been here before and they know what it takes to win and we can’t back down.”

Well, there is always Game 5 to take that advice.

MCHALE A FAN

Meanwhile, NBA legend, turned Houston coach, turned broadcaster Kevin McHale spoke highly of Patterson.

“I love him. He does all the little things,” McHale said. “Every coach would love to coach a young man like that. He’s fun to be around.”

In his first year with the Rockets, McHale coached Patterson, Scola and Lowry.

OFF THE BANDWAGON?

Charles Barkley has long been a Raptors supporter and has constantly called the team one of only about five quality squads in the entire NBA. But he didn’t like what he saw on Saturday.

“I go back and look at my career and great teams are always greedy,” Barkley said on TNT.

“Toronto is just a good team. They were content with the split. Look at their energy level in Game 3 versus Game 4, it is like night and day. You had to know Indiana was going to come out and punch you in the mouth. You can just see it in their energy level.”

SPURS ROLL ON

The lights went out in Memphis on Sunday, then the lights went out on a trying season for the Grizzlies.

After a 20-minute delay following the blackout, San Antonio completed another sweep of the Grizzlies, the third in the past 12 years and will play the Oklahoma City-Dallas winner.

Due to injuries, Memphis coach Dave Joerger deployed an NBA-record 28 players this season. Elder statesman Vince Carter, who has a year remaining on his contract, told reporters after the game that he would return for his final year.

AROUND THE RIM

Charlotte’s win over Miami earlier this weekend was the team’s first in the post-season since 2002. That team from 14 years ago featured Raptors assistant coach Jamaal Magloire and lost in the second round. A Charlotte loss would have tied New York’s playoff futility mark of 13 straight … Hornets star Nic Batum, a free agent this summer, remains questionable for Game 4, while Heat centre Hassan Whiteside sat out practice on Sunday, but is expected to play … No coach has more sweeps than San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich, who now has nine … Russell Westbrook is the first player since Kevin Johnson in 1992 to notch 20 points and 15 assists in consecutive playoff games … From the Department of Weird: Since 1986, four players have had 20 rebounds and nine assists in a playoff game — Shaquille O’Neal, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Portland’s Mason Plumlee. Talk about one of these things is not like the other.

Top 5 adjustments the Raptors have to make to regain control of their series with Indiana:

1. Move the ball to get better shots

This one sounds pretty simple, but the Raptors don’t enjoy making the extra pass nearly as much as they should. Only one team averaged fewer assists in the regular season. DeMar DeRozan is the biggest culprit and he has shot himself in the foot repeatedly against the Pacers, forcing his way into double- or triple-coverage instead of swinging the ball for a better shot. While it’s true his assist numbers would have been higher on Saturday had his teammates hit those clean looks, the fact DeRozan shot 11 contested shots, according to NBA.com (making only two of them) indicates he could have done a much better job with his decision-making. It isn’t all on DeRozan, but if he starts moving the ball, the offence will look much better. He is a dismal 11-for-48 (22.9%) on contested attempts over the course of the series.

2. Find time for Norman Powell

Yes, he’s a rookie and unproven, but Powell hasn’t looked out of place in his 55 minutes so far. He has been, at worst, the second-best defender on Paul George, he hit 44% of his shots, a team-best 43% on three-pointers and provided good energy. The Raptors could go small and start him with DeMarre Carroll at power forward, but who would guard Myles Turner? Or, they could move him ahead of Terrence Ross on the depth chart and even cut into DeRozan’s minutes if he continues to hurt the Raptors when he is on the floor? However Dwane Casey does it, he must find more time for Powell, who has outperformed DeRozan and Ross and is a much better defender than either, despite being smaller.

3. Get Kyle Lowry off the ball more

Lowy has not looked like himself either and George Hill’s defence is a major reason why. Hill has hounded Lowry, getting up into him and being a pest. Lowry has not responded well, shooting terribly and making uncharacteristic mistakes. Playing him more with Cory Joseph, or even Powell, who can handle the ball, would take pressure off of Lowry and allow him to thrive as a scorer. It would also give him more energy to defend Hill, who dominated Game 4 and has shot a scorching 59% so far. Or it would allow Joseph to guard Hill. With DeRozan struggling, it is asking too much to make Lowry the do-it-all lead guard for heavy minutes. Joseph likely won’t repeat his rough Game 4 performance.

4. Win more battles

Toronto was more physical and aggressive than Indiana in Games 2 and 3, getting after loose balls and winning most 50/50 battles. In Game 1, that wasn’t the case and Game 4 those battles weren’t even close. Aside from Bismack Biyombo and Carroll, the Raptors didn’t seem into the game and weren’t ready to compete and meet the force of the Pacers. If they come out flat again and don’t play like the desperate side, Toronto could find itself heading back to Indiana facing elimination.

Pacers coach Frank Vogel said Ian Mahinmi’s sore back “tightens up on him” when he gets hit, so, show no mercy, pound away at him.

5. Engage in the off-court game

Gamesmanship is paying off for the Pacers. It started with Vogel imploring the referees to think hard about calling as many fouls on DeRozan and Lowry as they are used to in the regular season (it has worked, DeRozan is barely getting to the line). George has been yapping on a nearly daily basis about various things and has been getting tremendous leeway from the officials at both ends of the floor (he handchecks a lot, a move that was outlawed years ago and draws tons of calls when he has the ball). After Game 4, George was smartly planting another seed when he talked of Jonas Valanciunas playing recklessly and swinging his elbows all game long. Now, he’ll surely get called for it in Game 5. Why don’t the Raptors play these games too?