Nate Taylor

nate.taylor@indystar.com

Jazz at Pacers, 7 p.m. Monday, Fox Sports Indiana

TORONTO — The atmosphere was much different from the last time the Indiana Pacers entered the Air Canada Centre.

No NBA playoff signage was featured. The Toronto Raptors fans didn’t chant “We The North!” Even the starting point guards from the last meeting – George Hill (traded) and Kyle Lowry (right wrist injury) – weren’t in uniform. This game didn’t carry the same intensity as a contentious seven-game playoff series.

Sunday’s game, however, was still important for the Pacers in their season-long quest to find consistency. Yet their lackluster 116-91 setback gave them some unwanted team history: The Pacers broke the franchise’s record of 13 games in which they alternated wins and losses.

As many players noted, part of the Pacers’ inconsistency can be attributed to their road woes, where they have lost six of eight.

“We just don’t play the same on the road as we play at home,” said Thaddeus Young, who scored 16 points. “I don’t know what it is and we all know what we need to do. That’s why our record is so vice versa. If we can bring the intensity and energy and efficiency that we bring at home, we would be a 45- or 40-win team right now.”

Indiana remains in sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings, although their lead over the surging Milwaukee Bucks has shrunk to one game. The biggest issue for coach Nate McMillan was his team's lack of focus.

“I thought they brought the physicality and we didn’t respond to that,” McMillan said. “Our motor tonight, in a game as important as tonight’s game, and the rest of the season, I don’t have an explanation for that.”

• BOX SCORE: Raptors 116, Pacers 91

The major reasons the Pacers fell, however, are pretty easy to explain.

The Pacers received some quality individual performances, but the Raptors were efficient in almost every statistical category. The Raptors (41-29) overpowered the Pacers (35-34) to set an early tone. With penetration from Cory Joseph, who played in place of Lowry, the Raptors displayed sharp ball movement that produced several wide open jumpers. They made 12-of-27 3-pointers, which was the first time the Raptors made 10 or more since March 3.

“They dominated every quarter,” McMillan said. “There was no pressure. We didn’t disrupt this team defensively. We kind of allowed them to just run their sets and get to their spots. This is a good team and we just didn’t disrupt enough to cause them to get out of rhythm offensively. And when they did miss, they were able to get to 14 offensive rebounds.”

Yes, where the Pacers struggled most – as they have all season – was collecting rebounds. The Raptors, led by a strong frontcourt of Jonas Valanciunas and Serge Ibaka, bullied the Pacers for a 51-33 advantage.

Sunday’s game was the Pacers’ worst defensive performance of the month. The Raptors shot 49.5 percent from the field and the Pacers never threatened after halftime.

“The wanted it more,” Young said. “They outrebounded us and they got a lot of second-chance points. They made more 3s than they usually make and they actually got in transition real good on us a little bit. It was just a good all-around game by them. We got out of character as far as not moving the basketball and we weren’t getting a good flow.”

Paul George led the Pacers with 18 points and remained efficient, making seven of his team-high 14 attempts. But George struggled on defense and his effectiveness was limited because he recorded five fouls.

“It took me out of my whole game, especially when (the officiating) is one-sided,” George said. “The guy that’s guarding me, their whole game plan is to be physical and to make everything tough. Guys don’t get fouls for it. On my end, I pick up cheap ones or quick ones. It’s frustrating fighting that battle as well as getting the matchup of having their team’s best defender on me plus having to score. There’s just so much energy getting put into it, it’s very frustrating.”

DeMar DeRozan, Toronto’s All-Star guard, wasn’t hampered by foul trouble and was as potent as he was in last year’s playoffs. DeRozan led the Raptors with 22 points. Joseph led all players with nine assists and Valanciunas produced a double-double of 11 points and 13 rebounds.

“They did a great job of using their five man, which caused chain reactions,” George said of Valanciunas. “Again, he was eating the boards up and he did a good job of keeping plays alive. It’s always one-sided with what we can do and what other teams can do. I guess we’ve got to come out and establish a physical play so that throughout a whole game we’re able to get away with stuff that other teams are able to get away with.”

As for their next game Monday against Utah, the Pacers will try to accomplish what they’ve done the last three times they’ve returned to Bankers Life Fieldhouse. They hope to follow a road loss with a home victory.

George, though, knows the Pacers must do more than what they’ve done the last 13 games.

“We’ve got to win-win,” he said. “We’ve got to find out how to win-win.”

Call IndyStar reporter Nate Taylor at (317) 444-6484. Follow him on Twitter: @ByNateTaylor.

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UTAH (43-27) at INDIANA (35-34)

Tipoff: 7 p.m. Monday, Bankers Life Fieldhouse

TV: Fox Sports Indiana

Radio: WFNI-AM (1070), -FM (93.5).

Storylines:

>> Utah’s George Hill will make his first return to Bankers Life Fieldhouse for the first time since being traded to the Jazz last summer. Hill has been a steady and calming influence for the Jazz, who are set to make their first playoff appearance since 2012. He is averaging 17.2 points and 4.1 assists per game. In the previous meeting this season between the teams, Hill scored a then season-high 30 points to lead a Jazz victory.

>> Since the start of March, the Pacers have improved on defense. Entering Sunday’s game, the Pacers led the NBA in opponents’ points per game at 94.4. The Pacers had held their previous five opponents to under 100 points before Sunday.

>> The Pacers’ schedule doesn’t get any easier. The next three games are against opponents – the Jazz, the Boston Celtics and the Denver Nuggets – who have beaten the Pacers this season. Of the Pacers’ final 14 games, 10 are against teams who will either be in the playoffs or are battling for a spot in the postseason. Last season, the Pacers reached the playoffs by going 9-5 over their last 14 games.

PREDICTION: The Pacers better shoot well from the perimeter in this one, which is tough to ask given it’s the second game of a back-to-back. Utah is a stronger defensive team and they are likely to have the rebounding advantage, too. Jazz 98, Pacers 91.

– Nate Taylor