Pacers at Cavaliers, 7 p.m. Tuesday, Fox Sports Indiana

TORONTO – The warnings and pleas from Victor Oladipo now have a face. As good as the Pacers have been in the first half of the season, they’re not on the level of the Toronto Raptors.

In two visits north of the border, the Pacers have led by 17 points only to lose to the Raptors 99-96 and lost 121-105 on Sunday. It's the only team the Pacers have lost to since Dec. 19.

“Toronto has been on top of the East for three or four years now,” Oladipo said after being held to 16 points. “We think we’re good. We’re a talented ballclub but we’re not where we need to be. Our goal and aspiration is to be the best in this conference. If you want to do that you've got to beat the best last time I checked.”

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The Pacers (26-13) have won at home vs. the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics. They won on the road at the Philadelphia 76ers.

They enter Monday third in the conference just 2.5 games behind the first-place Raptors, who won the first meeting without starters Serge Ibaka and Kyle Lowry and the other without Kawhi Leonard. The Pacers practiced without Myles Turner (right shoulder) and Cory Joseph (right thigh), both questionable for Tuesday at the Cleveland Cavaliers.

"They just control the flow every time we play them. They're a tough matchup for anybody in the league," Pacers forward Thad Young said. "It's not just Kawhi. It's not just Kyle Lowry. You have guys like Danny Green, Pascal (Siakam), Serge. Everybody steps up and plays. We haven't done a really good job of execution throughout the whole course of a game."

At times, the gap between the teams appears larger than it looks on paper for key reasons:

>> Be it Lowry, Fred VanVleet or Delon Wright, the Raptors' guards live in the paint, which breaks down the defense. That leads to either layups or kickouts on a collapsing defense. They never stop driving. They don't give up their dribble. Their pressure offense breaks down the defense.

"They put us in rotation a lot. They just drove our closeouts after we were in rotation so we come with a rotation, they kick (the ball to an open shooter)," Oladipo said. "They drive our closeouts and we’re in another rotation. It’s tough."

>> In Doug McDermott's first 8 minutes Sunday, he didn't attempt a shot, much less a 3. That wouldn't occur on the opposite bench as the Raptors push tempo even off makes to get layups and throw-ahead 3s. They hunt the long ball. Siakam got behind the Pacers twice late for layups after they'd made baskets. They shot better than 50 percent overall and from 3. They assisted on 30 of their 44 field goals.

"They were taking the ball out pretty fast and making sure they throw it ahead and put a lot of pressure on our defense," Young said. "We weren't getting back. We didn't play Pacer basketball."

>> No one other than Cory Joseph could handle the ball pressure from the Raptors' defense. They pick up high, which forces the Pacers to initiate out of their comfort zone. They don't allow handoffs from bigs to guards so Oladipo can get downhill going full speed. They'll even pick up full court on occasion to catch the Pacers on their heels and it succeeded, as Toronto stole inbounds passes. Still, the Pacers scored. They took nine more shots. Toronto's scores were easier.

"That’s what they do. We knew that," Pacers coach Nate McMillan said. "They get after you. You have to play through the contact. They’re physical on the defensive end of the floor. Offensively we were able to score but we didn’t get any stops."

The season series has been clinched. The Pacers will get one last chance in the regular season to figure out how to beat the Raptors on Jan. 23 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

It wouldn't be until the playoffs, if both teams were to meet up, that they'll be back at Scotiabank Arena.

Having lost 11 in a row there, the Pacers would have to clear that hurdle, too.