Look, the Toronto Raptors are first in the East. They came into Indy Thursday night on a nine-game win streak, and had won 16 of their last 17 games. The Indiana Pacers may seem close behind at third in the East and 6-1 in their previous seven, but in 2018, the difference between first and third in the East is cavernous.
The first quarter was one of runs for Indiana — there was an early eight-point run (8 points, 99 seconds) eventually followed by another 9-0 run to give the Pacers a slight 27-25 lead against a Raptors team that takes and makes a hell of a lot of threes.