The Toronto Raptors are in D.C. to continue their non-rivalry with the Washington Wizards. The game tips off at 7 p.m. on Sportsnet One and is the third of four meetings between the two teams on the season. The Raptors own wins of two and three points, continuing their regular-season dominance of the team that dominated them in the playoffs a season ago. Really, I can’t be moved to care too much about the “vengeance” aspect of the would-be rivalry, though the John Wall-Kyle Lowry angle is always entertaining.
Let’s talk about that
Lowry and Wall have, in some order, been the two best point guards in the Eastern Conference this season. My nod goes to Lowry by the narrowest of margins, but I also thought DeMar DeRozan deserved Player of the Month over Wall. Maybe I’m a homer, then, or maybe in instances where there are infinitesimal differences between cases, there aren’t really wrong choices. In any case, neither Lowry or Wall are slated to start the All-Star Game, ranking third and fifth, respectively.
In terms of head-to-head meetings, the guards have split the season series. In total, Lowry’s gone 38-10-9-4 on 54.3 true shooting, while Wall’s posted a 37-10-16-8 on 34.7 true shooting. Not the most efficient of nights for either, but that’s bound to happen when their respective offenses are struggling and they’re being defended by, well, each other.
Wall’s playoff performance will give him the overall edge to some until Lowry can prove himself equally as capable in the postseason, and that’s fine. Wall has the slightly better in-season head-to-head numbers, too, though the Raptors are 10-3 when they square off. Your preference comes down to just that, preference, so by all means make your case for one or the other in the comments. Or on Twitter with #NBAVote.
Raptors Updates
Carroll remains out, likely for six-to-eight weeks, but everyone else, including Anthony Bennett (back tightness), should be good to go. The rotation will look something like this:
PG: Lowry, Cory Joseph, Wright
SG: DeRozan, T.J. Ross, Powell
SF: James Johnson, Caboclo
PF: Luis Scola, Patrick Patterson, Bennett
C: Jonas Valanciunas, Bismack Biyombo, Nogueira
Wizards Updates
The Wizards have been seriously banged up for most of the season. Nene returned on Wednesday, giving the Wizards a wealth of options with…10 healthy players. He’s on a minutes limit Friday.
Wittman: "We had a party last night because we actually had 10 guys to practice."
— Jorge Castillo (@jorgeccastillo) January 8, 2016
Bradley Beal (leg) remains out, but let’s run through the others quickly, per Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post.
Alan Anderson: Out, still recovering from left ankle surgery
Kris Humphries: Out with a knee injury, didn’t practice Thursday
DeJuan Blair: Game-time decision with a leg injury
Drew Gooden: Game-time-decision with a right calf injury, would play limited minutes if he can go, as expected
PG: Wall, Ramon Sessions
SG: Garrett Temple, Gary Neal, Jarell Eddie
SF: Otto Porter Jr., Kelly Oubre Jr.
PF: Jared Dudley, Nene, Gooden
C: Marcin Gortat, (Blair)
Gortat vs. Valanciunas
Valanciunas and Gortat present a fun co-main event alongside Lowry-Wall. Gortat is a tough matchup and owns the statistical edge in their previous meetings, but Valanciunas showed well on Dec. 30. It was Valanciunas’ return to the starting lineup and just his second game back, and he put up 8-and-9 in 21 minutes, shooting 4-of-7 with a block. Gortat, meanwhile, went 5-of-15 in 36 minutes and finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks. He went 3-of-11 in 21 minutes opposite Valanciunas, and Valanciunas had a 9-4 rebounding edge.
The Line
The Raptors are 1.5-point underdogs with 58 percent of the action going their way. Just shocking that the oddsmakers see another close game. Given how banged up the Wizards are and that the Raptors had a day off, you wouldn’t be wrong to be confident in the road side. The Wizards, after all, are 15-18, and the Raptors are better on both ends of the floor so far. The 202 over-under seems just right for how fast the Wizards like to play, but I’ll take a slight under.
Raptors 102, Wizards 98
You can check out Kiyan’s full game preview here.
