The Toronto Raptors hopped aboard a train once again Friday night, making the trek from D.C. to the hometown of one Kyle Lowry, where they’ll take on the Philadelphia 76ers at 7:30 on TSN 2.
6 visits as a Raptor: 16.5-5.5-9.0, 1.3 steals, 55.6 TS%, 4-2 record. https://t.co/yrUw9BwGwN
— Raptors Republic (@raptorsrepublic) January 9, 2016
The Raptors are coming off of a nice defensive showing against the Wizards but were believed to have maybe experienced a bit of a Pyrrhic victory, because…
TJ Ross is hurt…but available
Already short one DeMarre Carroll on the wing, the Raptors lost Ross early in the fourth quarter due to spasms in his lower back. He was said to be in a lot of pain still after the game last night, and there aren’t exactly great reasons to ask him to play through it Saturday.
He’s available if needed, according to the Raptors. Whether that means he plays or will only be used in an emergency or what is unclear, but considering the Raptors will have to list someone else as inactive as a result, it stands to reason he’ll see time.
If Ross couldn’t go or if the injury flares back up, the Raptors have a few options, none of them perfect. (And yes, I wrote this next section believing he would sit.)
Overwork Kyle Lowry, Cory Joseph, and DeMar DeRozan: This is not a good idea, especially against the Sixers. Lowry and DeRozan both played 40 minutes Friday, and while it’s just one back-to-back and they’re about to play one game over eight days, it’s still suboptimal. Lowry and DeRozan are at their reasonable minutes and workload capacities, Joseph is playing probably
Play Delon Wright: Wright has been solid offensively in the D-League. Somewhat surprisingly, he hasn’t shown he’s ready to defend at quite this level, especially in the pick-and-roll. Given who he’d be playing with in the second unit and his penchant for picking up his dribble, I’d probably tether him to Joseph in dual-PG bench units. Playing Wright might allow head coach Dwane Casey to go dual-pistols as often as he’d like without over-taxing Lowry in an unnecessary environment.
Play Norman Powell: this is the most natural choice and the one I think is the “correct” answer. Powell is a two and, based on “next man up,” he should be the guy to slide into Ross’ position on the depth chart. I’m not sure the team trusts him to guard threes but it’s possible when the Sixers go small-ish (they shift Jerami Grant to the four a lot), and they can shift DeRozan to the three as needed. The issue with Powell is that he’d be tough to play alongside James Johnson, as spacing would get incredibly tight. They can get by for short minutes like that if Lowry’s propping up the second unit and/or if Patterson’s actually shooting, and it’s their best defensive option. It’s not ideal, but you have imperfect options down two wings, and Powell has the most obvious skills (straight-line driving, perimeter defense) of the bench group and has, to me, appeared the most ready to contribute.
Play Bruno Caboclo: He’s not ready, but if the game gets out of hand, this could be fun. His outside shot isn’t reliable enough to fix the spacing issues mentioned, and he’s just not there overall yet. Fun, though!
Play Anthony Bennett: It sounds like he’s past the back issues that he was having around the new year. He’s a bigger option, to be sure, and you could pair him with DeRozan (though probably not Powell, unless the Sixers unexpectedly respect Bennett’s shot). You probably don’t go with a huge Johnson-Bennett wing duo, but a Johnson-Bennett or Patterson-Bennett forward pairing when the Sixers have a non-Nerlens Noel at the four is certainly doable.
I talked about these options a bit on Sportsnet 590 earlier.
Blow the Sixers off the floor: This is the ideal option. The Sixers have been better of late and the Raptors let them hang around too long in the last two meetings, but the best way around the wing shortage is to get the game to a place where it doesn’t matter. The new starting five has played well in a small sample, and if they, along with Joseph and Bismack Biyombo and Patrick Patterson and put the gears to them, the reigns can be turned over to the youngsters for some extended run. I’d really, really like this. While I think Powell’s the right call to get a big minutes bump, Bennett might be the most interesting because we have such a small sample from which to judge him this season.
Raptors Lineup
Carroll: Out (knee)
Ross: Available (back)
PG: Lowry, Joseph, Wright
SG: DeRozan, Ross, Powell
SF: Johnson, Caboclo
PF: Luis Scola, Patterson, Bennett
C: Jonas Valanciunas, Biyombo, Nogueira
76ers Lineup
Embiid: Out (foot)
Brand: Out, per 76ers beat writer Tom Moore (still wrapping those veteran presents; read this, by the way)
PG: Ish Smith, Kendall Marshall, TJ McConnell
SG: Nik Stauskas, Isaiah Canaan, Hollis Thompson
SF: Grant, JaKarr Sampson, Robert Covington
PF: Noel, Carl Landry
C: Jahlil Okafor, Richaun Holmes
💂🏿 over the last 7 games 👻: sixers pic.twitter.com/BRllbdbQwY
— Philadelphia 76ers (@Sixers) January 9, 2016
The Line
The Raptors opened as an 8.5-point favorite, a line that held through the night. It’s bumped to Raptors -9 with 76 percent of action on the road side, and the over-under has nudged down from 203.5 to 202.5. I think the spread could move another half point by tip-off, and I’d consider banging the under but I’m a little wary given how fast the Sixers have played of late.
Raptors 104, Sixers 92
You can check out the full game preview here.
