All that concern amid the all-star break that the Raptors might go through another post-break collapse seems silly now. Skinny Lowry was here to stay – he wasn’t just a two-month fad. The Raptors’ depth has come through in unexpected ways, stepping up to the plate all season and playing some incredible basketball during key stretches without the injured DeMarre Carroll and, at times, Jonas Valanciunas.
The Raptors will probably notch their best regular season record in franchise history by the time this is all over. Heck, they may even grab the top seed in the East if the Cavs slip enough. Miami absolutely pummeled them last night, and with a win tonight, Toronto could pull within one game of the East-leading Cavaliers.
“That will be a little bit of a challenge for us to continue to build while we rest players and play games maybe not as meaningful,” said Luis Scola. “We’re winning 70 per cent of our games, which is remarkable.”
To Scola’s point, grabbing first – as momentous as it would be for the franchise – won’t be a priority. If it happens, it happens. Cleveland would have to slip too, and at this the stage of the season, the clinchers will start resting and rotating players more; while teams further down the standings treading water to still be relevant in early May, will be fighting for their lives.
It’s unclear whether tonight’s visiting Orlando Magic are one of those teams. With a 29-39 record, the Magic are out of the playoff picture – six games back of 8th placed Chicago.
Still, Orlando can cause problems. They have an unorthodox team riddled with young talent on friendly contracts that could explode at any given night. Victor Oladipo is one of those said players, perfectly backing up this statement with a 45-point (career-high) outburst against the Cavs on Friday.
“We’ve got to bring the fight to every game and we have to compete at a high level,” Oladipo said. “We’re going into hostile environments and great arenas so we’re going to have to be ready to fight. Individually each player has to tell themselves they are going to have a great road trip and then collectively we have to go out there and do it.’
Certainly the Raptors have the tools to cope with these outbursts. Orlando has an incredibly young nucleus of talented players, but none of them are franchise players, nor do they have the proper synergy to channel the talent. Oladipo for one, is not a three-point shooter, so Dwane Casey can feel relatively comfortable clogging the lane. It’s not like the Magic can generate a ton of threes from Oladipo drive and kicks. Elfrid Payton, Oladipo’s back-court sidekick, is streaky, and is the only player in the Magic starting lineup who can consistently hurt you from deep. The Magic as a whole shoot 34.9% from three – 18th in the league.
The dynamic changes somewhat if Payton (elbow) can’t play today. He’s missed four straight due to injury, and will be a game-time decision today. If he can’t play, Brandon Jennings will start in his place, and Evan Fournier (a capable scorer) will start at the three. Jennings is who he is – a shooting veteran (I feel old now) who has never had a consistent career. He was acquired at the trade deadline, essentially as a salary-dump along with Ersan Ilyasova in exchange for Tobias Harris. He’s a streaky player still recovering from an Achilles injury and is not 100%, and still learning the Orlando scheme, but is talented enough to hurt you if he shows up.
The Magic will also be missing Nikola Vucevic who’s missed seven straight with a groin injury. Orlando feels Vucevic’s absence, to be sure. The Swiss big-man is a steady mid-range shooter who can post you up and adds 17.8 points per game. He adds another dimension to the Magic’s game, and grabbed a double-double against the Raptors earlier this season. Dewayne Dedmon, who averages 3.4 points and 3.5 rebounds on the season, will start in Vucevic’s place.
Watch out for Victor Oladipo
Oladipo is as dangerous as ever coming off of his near 50-point performance on Friday, and the Raptors’ back-court need to prevent him from getting inside. Oladipo’s lack of ability to stretch the floor makes him a bit easier to guard, but as a ball-handler he can be deadly if he blows by you – which leaves more pressure on the help defenders to not hedge too far away from him.
From the Cavs / Magic post-game on Friday:
“He had a heckuva game and he shot the ball extremely well,” Cleveland’s LeBron James raved. “He was coming off pick-and-rolls and making some tough shots as well as driving. He was chopping up our defense. He was just attacking our bigs and on a great roll.”
In his last seven outings, Oladipo is averaging nearly 25 points on a whopping 57.2% shooting and 50% from three (another twist). Across the board, Oladipo’s numbers have improved month-by-month since the New Year.
Tip-off is at 4:30 pm EST.
