Fan Duel Toronto Raptors

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Pre-game news & notes: Ross returns, Lowry non-update, Carroll sits again

One of the greatest to ever wear Raptors red returns.

He’s back.

Mr. 51 Point Game. The two-time Slam Dunk Contest Champion. The Stealer of Key Game 7 Possessions. The Slayer of Farieds.

Terrence Ross makes his not-so-long-awaited but highly anticipated return to the Air Canada Centre tonight, a little over a month since the Toronto Raptors sent him out with a first-round pick to acquire Serge Ibaka. During his five seasons with the Raptors, Ross grew from a shy, quiet, No. 8 overall pick into an affable, sharp-shooting rotation player on a quality team. His own growth was emblematic of the franchise’s, and it’s disappointing, in reflection, that Ross won’t be around to continue to stand as an avatar for Toronto’s own progress from an inconsistent and frustrating fledgling into a legitimate threat.

Whether Ross gets there is still a question mark. The Orlando Magic represent a grand opportunity for the 26-year-old to thrive in the larger role his play in Toronto only occasionally called for, and the early returns are somewhat disappointing. Blessed with more minutes and more touches, Ross’ numbers have stayed fairly consistent thanks to a shooting slump to start his Orlando tenure. As the 3-point shooting regresses to his career level, though, there’s the makings of a fit in which Ross averages 15 points as a secondary scorer for this team, hardly a bad outcome for player or team.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8PLr_Ysw00

Surely, he’ll be fired up for his return, and whoever draws the assignment better be ready for Ross to come out gunning, good or bad.

The game tips off at 7:30 p m. on TSN and Sportsnet 590. You can check out the full game preview here.

Raptors updates
With the Raptors back off the road, there were some non-updates on recovering point guard Kyle Lowry. First, Lowry went on Sportscenter and used the term “next couple of weeks,” which worried some. Really, Lowry probably just doesn’t want to over-promise or give away too much information, which is likely an edict from the team’s medical staff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64sxdBE7cZ8

Lowry did say he’s been working on conditioning and cutting and such, and reports from Dallas had him doing ball work left-handed, which is all good news. At shootaround, head coach Dwane Casey declined to provide any specifics but said “he’s working his butt off.” As a reminder, the Raptors never laid out a timeline for his return, saying only that the hope was he’d be back for the postseason. Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the “optimistic” timeline was four-to-five weeks, which means even the very best case scenario would only have had Lowry back Wednesday, and he’d have until April 4 to still land in the “optimistic” zone. The lack of news is not, itself, bad news.

Elsewhere, DeMarre Carroll will sit once again due to a sore back. Carroll missed Saturday’s game after taking a nasty fall during Thursday’s game, and Dwane Casey said Carroll’s still having a bit of trouble with it. P.J. Tucker is starting in his place once again.

The starting lineup has been better with Tucker in there than Carroll, and it’s fairly clear that something might need to change in that group, since it’s been heavily outscored over 164 minutes now. Maybe the return of Lowry will help – it will at least eliminate the need for the all-bench lineup that’s also been beaten up in 50 minutes despite strong defense – but Tucker’s the only one in that three-spot who’s been a positive (the starters with Norman Powell there have been the worst look). As always, we’re talking very small sample sizes cutting lineup data into post-break and then small-minute samples, but the information can be instructive as to where to look for issues, and Toronto starting halves poorly has been an issue all season long (as it was last year). It’s something to at least keep an eye on ahead of Lowry’s return.

PG: Cory Joseph, Delon Wright, Fred VanVleet
SG: DeMar DeRozan, Norman Powell
SF: P.J. Tucker, (Bruno Caboclo)
PF: Serge Ibaka, Patrick Patterson, Pascal Siakam
C: Jonas Valanciunas, Jakob Poeltl, Lucas Nogueira
TBD: Bruno Caboclo
ASSIGNED: None
OUT: Kyle Lowry, DeMarre Carroll

Magic updates
Ross isn’t just returning to Toronto, he’s returning having armed his new team with valuable information about the Raptors:

Considering the Magic beat the Raptors twice in the span of six days two months ago, they probably don’t need any additional intelligence. The formula is easy: Evan Forunier goes off, Nikola Vucevic wins the battle inside, and some guard with initials as a name has a big game in support. (Bismack Biyombo, making his second visit to Toronto, hasn’t been a massive part of the game plan, scoring 18 points with 24 rebounds and four blocks in 59 minutes over the three meetings.)

Oh, and the Magic are missing Jeff Green due to back spasms, which is a big loss for the Raptors.

PG: Elfrid Payton, D.J. Augustin, C.J. Watson
SG: Evan Fournier, Jodie Meeks, C.J. Wilcox
SF: Terrence Ross, Mario Hezonja
PF: Aaron Gordon, Damjan Rudez
C: Nikola Vucevic, Bismack Biyombo, Stephen Zimmerman
Assigned: None
TBD: None
Out: Jeff Green

Assorted

  • Bruno Caboclo was recalled from Raptors 905, who are off until Thursday. He’s missed the last three games and four of the last six due to shoulder soreness. The 905 have just two regular-season games left and have already locked up the league’s best record, home court throughout the playoffs, and the best road record in league history, so their focus is firmly on the postseason, which can begin as early as April 4. Caboclo is likely to be assigned for the playoff run, but it’s yet to be seen if Pascal Siakam will also be sent down for the additional work and experience.
  • In case you missed it the other week, Terrence Ross wrote a Thank You to Toronto in The Players’ Tribune. He better get a heck of an ovation here.
  • DeMar DeRozan is your Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the fourth time this season. Here’s what you need to know on that front. Basically, “he’s the best.”

The line
The Raptors are 7.5-point favorites with a 208.5 over-under. The Magic are bad. Even without Lowry and Carroll, the Raptors should win this game. Don’t let the last two meetings fool you. Or do. If the Magic go 3-1 against the Raptors this year, I’m going to be quite annoyed.