Indiana Pacers News

NBA Playoffs Links: Pacers start working referees in advance of Game 1 against Raptors

The Pacers have plenty of experience dealing with the ups and downs of officiating in the NBA playoffs, so they wasted little time working the officials for an advantage prior to their first round series against the Raptors.

By Tom Lewis@IndyCornrows Apr 15, 2016, 7:00am EDT

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The Pacers allowed their opponents just over 23 free throws per game throughout the season, but the Raptors averaged over 34 FTAs in their three real games against the Pacers.

Toronto's style of play, led by Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, makes it tough on the defense to avoid contact. By attacking the lane, they force defensive rotations which naturally leads to a reach or bump when the rotation is even a half-step late.

Those foul shots were a topic for discussion with the Pacers on their first day of preparation for Game 1 and they were able to use their playoff experience to make fouls an issue in the media before the game. In the grand tradition of Phil Jackson and Pat Riley, Frank Vogel avoided direct, fine-worthy comments by instead explaining how he expects his team to play, which also sends the subtle message about how he expects the game to be called.

Paul George took a similar approach, talking about what they needed to do, but also slipped in a reminder that playoff fouls are different than regular season fouls with an indirect plea to the refs to make sure fouls are legit. Candace Buckner shared the transcript of these quotes here.

This season TOR averaged 11 more FTs than #Pacers in 4 gms.
Here’s Vogel & P George on defending foul-drawing Raps pic.twitter.com/WKr5o1TbWf
— Candace Buckner (@CandaceDBuckner) April 14, 2016