TORONTO – The outlook for Victor Oladipo playing for the Indiana Pacers on Sunday is dim, but his likely absence won't have anything to do with his surgically repaired right knee.

Oladipo didn't practice Saturday as the team had a light workout at Scotiabank Arena before they play the Toronto Raptors here. They trail the season series 2-1.

"Still has some tightness there," coach Nate McMillan said. "He's doubtful. Still has spasms."

It appears the likely starting lineup would involve the Pacers (33-23) going back to Jeremy Lamb to starting next to Malcolm Brogdon in the backcourt.

McMillan, however, wouldn't commit to anything yet. Little-used Aaron Holiday or Edmond Sumner could factor into the rotation to get the minutes left by Oladipo, who played just 25 in a 106-98 win at the New York Knicks on Friday after having his minutes restriction lifted in their first game after the All-Star break.

The Pacers know they're good enough to win in Toronto, but they've self-sabotaged.

McMillan didn't shy away from what took place Feb. 5, a game the Pacers led by 11 with just more than two minutes left only to drop it 119-118.

"You have to talk about that. We had control of the game and we gave it back to them," McMillan said. "It was just a couple weeks ago. It was a bad loss for us. You still feel it."

Though the win in New York wasn't a work of art, the Pacers are in a better place. Their six-game losing streak before the All-Star break started with a home loss to the Knicks and back-to-back losses vs. Toronto.

Insider:Pacers overcome losing Victor Oladipo to put away New York Knicks

Insider: Pacers experiment with zone coverages to jumpstart defensive effort

Defensively, the Pacers showed more resistance and rebounded better. They went from being minus-23 in the Feb. 1 to New York to plus-10 on Friday.

If they can replicate that Sunday, they like their chances. Toronto is good enough without giving them unnecessary extra chances that can be solved with hustle.

"Get our guards forward helping rebound the ball. Played more of a physical style of game which is what we need to do these remaining games," McMillan said of how they turned the tables on an elite offensive rebounding team in the Knicks. "We had the game the last time in this building and we gave it back to them. We're going to have to be physical. We're going to have to be sharper. They're playing really good basketball. They're defending champions. We know what we have to do."

The Raptors send multiple players to the rim for offensive rebounds, a recent trend among teams that has caught the Pacers by surprise.

A lot of NBA teams allow their bigs to crash for second chances but pull their wings back to stop the ball in transition. The Raptors bet on getting the ball -- and catching the opponent with fewer numbers to defend because they're running back on defense -- and an open shot.

Terrence Davis broke the Pacers in the fourth quarter of their 115-106 win at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Feb. 7 by cutting backdoor to get offensive putbacks. Kyle Lowry will stay in the lane on his drives and not get back, either. It's a high risk-high reward strategy.

They're good at it. The Pacers have not been good at stopping it.

"A lot of teams are doing that now with the offense being spread, a lot of teams will run guys to the paint and rebound the basketball," McMillan said. "What you have to do is you have to turn, you have to hit, box out and not ball watch and assume. We didn't do that last night. We put bodies on guys and we went after the ball as opposed to assuming someone else was going to get it or not even making an effort to go get it. Which is what we have to do every night. Certainly against these guys."

Brogdon can't fall asleep on the weakside. The same goes for Lamb. Both were better helping out Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis inside.

Oladipo's availability shouldn't have any negative impact on how the Pacers perform in this area Sunday.