Fan Duel Toronto Raptors

Pre-game news & notes: Gay in, Collison still out for Kings

Rudy Gay revenge game Part 5.

For the fifth time since the Toronto Raptors dealt him to the Sacramento Kings, Rudy Gay will have his chance at revenge on Sunday.

After missing Friday’s game with a bout of gastroenteritis, Gay is going to give it a go against good pals Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. Gay’s beaten the Raptors once since departing but stands at 1-3 in potential Rudy Gay Revenge Games. Even with his presence, the Kings are two-point underdogs at home. He’s averaged 20.3 points, six rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.8 steals while shooting 44.4 percent against his former squad, though he hasn’t had a defensive presence like DeMarre Carroll opposite him in any of those games.

Gay’s off to a somewhat cold start to the season by his standards, averaging 17.2 points on 48.3 percent true shooting. He still commands serious attention, and the Kings’ one-three-five offensive attack with Rajon Rondo, Gay, and DeMarcus Cousins means the Raptors are going to have to work at that end. The Kings might be 3-7 and a below-average defensive outfit, but their league-average offense has the potential to go off in any given game. Try to stay out of foul trouble with Gay and Cousins, dare Rondo to shoot, take care of your own glass, then hope like hell the Kings continue coughing up the rock at a top-five rate.

Other injury notes

Terrence Ross (thumb) remains out for the Raptors, while Darren Collison (hamstring) will miss a fifth consecutive game for the Kings.

The Kings have tasked Rondo with playing all but eight minutes of the four games Collison has missed so far, an insane workload that speaks to a lack of faith in third-string point guard Seth Curry. Curry remains more specialist than regular rotation piece but will stand as an outside threat if he gets into the game. He’s also dealing with a minor right ankle sprain of his own.

Carroll’s return Friday revealed that it’s likely Norman Powell, not James Johnson, taking Ross’ spot in the rotation. Powell has earned short minutes with his defensive intensity and aggression on the offensive end, and while it doesn’t seem fair to Johnson, head coach Dwane Casey seems comfortable with him as a matchup specialist and emergency starter rather than a regular contributor.

The game tips off at 9 p.m. on TSN2. You can check out the full preview here.

He’s certainly not gonna Mackle less
The Kings will insert Ben McLemore into the starting lineup Sunday, with James Anderson returning to the bench. McLemore’s playing time is all over the place to start the year but the starting group needs the spacing he provides, whether George Karl is a fan of his overall game or not. The 22-year-old is shooting 38.1 percent on threes, averaging 6.1 points in 17 minutes. He’ll make helping out of the corner a more dangerous proposition for DeMar DeRozan and is a respectable on-ball defender.

There’s a baby race…
I mean, what in the hell?

It’s almost Christmas, kind of Can you believe they do the Santa Claus Parade so damn early? Can people who have children explain the logic to me here? At the very least, the parade serves as a reminder that it’s never inappropriate to buy your favorite blogger a Christmas present.