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Note: I see that the comments aren't currently working. I'll try to fix this sometime today if it doesn't rectify itself.
The Indiana Pacers have the 27th-ranked offence in the NBA, but they've managed to score an average of 112 points in their four games against the Toronto Raptors. Much like how playing the New Jersey Nets is typically a good way for a team to break out of a losing streak, playing against the Raptors can make almost any team's offence look like the Phoenix Suns. Last night's 130-115 embarrassment was no exception.
The game was sloppy and poorly-played by both teams throughout, but the Pacers hit more shots (52.4 percent from the field and 94.3 percent from the free throw line) and were the beneficiaries of some extremely questionable calls. Some people might say that the Raptors were hurt by the absence of Hedo Turkoglu and DeMar DeRozan from the lineup, but I doubt they would have made much of an impact defensively — the final score might have been 130-125 instead.
The paradox of Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani is that they can combine for 69 points in a game like they did last night but the Raptors can still lose by 15 points because they are frequently awful defenders. I've had commenters insist for years that Bargnani is actually a good defender (which he can be, very occasionally) and that it's really Bosh's fault that this is the worst defensive team in the league, but I refuse to accept that the starting center of such a team does not merit a large share of the blame for debacles like last night's. The Pacers outscored the Raptors 50-40 in the paint and went to the free throw line 35 times, converting 33 of their attempts. It was pretty clear both from observation and from the results that the Pacers — who are not by any means an offensive powerhouse in the paint — had their way with the Raptors' big men last night.
Because of games like last night, I'm forced to once again question the long-term effectiveness of a Bosh-Bargnani frontcourt. No matter how hard we try to convince ourselves of the contrary, Bargnani is not really a "true center" and each of the Raptors' starting bigs would be better served paired with a defensive-minded center. Regardless, the likelihood of either one of them being traded before the Feb. 18 trading deadline is close to non-existent, and none of the Raptors' other pieces are going to fetch a quality defensive big in return. So we'll almost surely continue to witness games like last night's throughout the rest of this season.
There really isn't anything surprising about how this season has played out for the Raptors. They got murdered by a tough early schedule, they've surged since the schedule got easier in mid-December, they've been below average (as usual) on the boards and flat-out awful defensively. This is a recipe for a team that could very well win 45-50 games but will most likely lose in the first round of the playoffs — you know, when you typically have to play some defence to win. An apologist could point out that the Raptors' defence has improved substantially in the last 20 games, but that improvement has coincided with the easy part of their schedule. When they have to play either the Hawks, Magic or Celtics in the playoffs — who each have above-average to great offences and are all significantly better defensively than the Raptors, the result is practically preordained.
Is a first-round exit good enough for this team? For the fans? For Chris Bosh? It's time for Bryan Colangelo to be real with himself and answer those questions within the next two weeks. 
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