The Toronto Raptors are set to play their first road game since the Mike James era on Tuesday when they visit the Milwaukee Bucks for an 8 p.m. tip-off on TSN 1.
Coming off of a 5-2 home-stand, the Raptors had to dust off the charter jet for the first time since Feb. 28, an extended stretch head coach Dwane Casey wasn’t fond of. It wasn’t all bad, even if life off the road can build complacency and a little too much comfort, as a slow start saw the Raptors get punched in the mouth by Houston, and then Broolyn, waking them up for 10 mostly good quarters and an overtime. And then the Chicago Bulls visited, DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry had to play a combined 80 minutes, and the spectre of impending playoff doom in a 2-7 matchup with the Bulls grew.
But hey, there’s something to be said for having the opportunity to bounce right back the next night, even if it is a part of four games in five nights. Looking ahead last week, I thought Tuesday would be a prime opportunity to get Lowry, DeRozan, and/or Luis Scola some rest, but the frustrating loss and the injury to Jonas Valanciunas may have served to confuse that strategy some. Let’s start there.
Jonas Valanciunas is out
Valanciunas will sit due to a left hand contusion suffered in the first quarter on Monday. The Lithuanian center had the hand wrapped in a thick tensor after the game, and while X-rays were negative, he seemed a little dejected, or possibly a mix of worried and relieved considering it’s the same hand on which he fractured a metacarpal in November and missed 17 games. A hand contusion that will be “treated symptomatically” is hardly something to be concerned with long-term, but it does make squaring up with Greg Monroe and company a little tougher, taking away one of Toronto’s primary edges.
Bismack Biyombo will likely start in Valanciunas’ place, and while I’d normally cape for Lucas Nogueira in the backup role, Jason Thompson looked solid as the de facto fill-in center off the bench Monday. Getting a longer look at Thompson, who could figure into a playoff series depending on matchups and Casey’s willingness to potentially shelve Scola, isn’t the worst idea. Thompson is limited in the number of offensive plays he knows at the center position, but with practice time fairly limited the next while, the Raptors may have to accept the abbreviated playbook while Valanciunas is out.
Raptors updates
DeMarre Carroll remains on the shelf, DeRozan is sitting for rest, and nobody is on assignment in the D-League, so the rotation looks something like this:
PG: Lowry, Cory Joseph, Delon Wright
SG: Norman Powell, T.J. Ross
SF: James Johnson, Bruno Caboclo
PF: Scola, Patrick Patterson
C: Biyombo, Thompson, Nogueira
Yes, DeRozan is sitting.
He’s yet to get a night off this season and ranks in the top 10 in the NBA in minutes played, miles run on offense, and free-throw attempts, all of which suggest he’s had one of the toughest workloads in all of basketball. He’s earned a night off, even if the offense could be a little ugly without him.
Seriously, a Powell-Johnson-Scola-Biyombo lineup is basically going to consist of Lowry hoisting contested threes over long arms as the shot clock expires. It’s almost a little surprising Casey didn’t just start the Lowry-plus-bench unit for kicks.
I’d guess Lowry rests one leg of the Thursday-Friday back-to-back.
Bucks updates
Greivis Vasquez (ankle), O.J. Mayo (ankle), Michael Carter-Williams (hip), and Steve Novak (knee) all remain sidelined. John Henson (back) is available for the first time after missing the last 20 games. Everyone else is a go, leaving the rotation looking something like this, with a giant asterisk because Giannis Antetokounmpo has been running the point some, which is all kinds of awesome.
PG: Jerryd Bayless, Tyler Ennis
SG: Khris Middleton, Rashad Vaughn
SF: Antetokounmpo, Damien Inglis
PF: Jabari Parker, Johnny O’Bryant
C: Monroe, Miles Plumlee, Henson
The line
Despite a 16-game gap between them in the standings and roughly 7.9 points per-game in terms of scoring margin, the Raptors are only two-point favorites. Part of that is the travel back-to-back against a Bucks team that didn’t play Monday, but gee, with that line, do you think Vegas had some idea Valanciunas and DeRozan were out? Yeah, me too. The line’s come down from 2.5 after opening at 1.5, while the over-under has held steady at 206.5.
Raptors 103, Bucks 99
You can check out Gavin’s full game preview here.
