The Toronto Raptors begin their final three-game road trip of the season on Wednesday as they visit the Boston Celtics for a 7:30 p.m. tip on TSN 4.
There’s a lot on the line for a random Wednesday game in late March. For example, the Raptors can sweep the season series against the Celtics, adding a modicum of comfort ahead of any potential playoff series. They can also push Boston further down the standings, if they happen to be an opponent they wouldn’t mind drawing. The Raptors will also be working some players back into the fold (more on that shortly).
And, of course, the big one: The Raptors can punch their ticket to the playoffs with a win. They can also punch it with a Chicago or Detroit loss, but those games take place simultaneously, and you always want to push in of your own accord instead of backing in on someone else’s failure. A 49th win would also tie the franchise record, set last season. (And, to a slightly lesser extent, there’s the opportunity to pull within half a game of Cleveland, should they lose to Milwaukee tonight.)
Playoff seeding is a mess
So, you want to avoid Chicago or draw Indiana or land the number one seed whatever it is you want to do to jockey for the first round? Good freaking luck. Not only are the Raptors just a game-and-a-half back of the Cavaliers, there’s only half a game separating third and sixth, and then only two games separating seventh and 10th (and six separating third and 10th). We know the Raptors and Cavs will finish one-two in some order, and we can be fairly confident that Miami, Atlanta, Boston, and Charlotte will get in. Where those teams rank and which two of Indiana, Chicago, Detroit, and Washington join them is anyone’s guess.
Isn’t it nice to not be worrying about that stuff, and just focusing on entering the playoffs healthy? Speaking of which…
Kyle Lowry is out
The team is saying he has a sore right elbow, but this could be just another case of getting him some rest, and a bum arm is the impetus for it. He is active but “unlikely to play.”
Lowry did appear to be favoring his arm coming out of halftime on Sunday, but I thought nothing of it at the time. The Celtics are incredibly physical on defense at the guard positions, and with Lowry ranking third in the NBA in total minutes, it makes no sense to risk further aggravation. And again, it’s a good excuse to get him some extra rest.
“We anticipate having all bodies on deck,” Casey said of the trip on Tuesday. “We reserve the right to rest guys, and we’ll see who those guys are as we go along.”
They sure do.
Jonas Valanciunas and James Johnson are back
Valanciunas was active for each of the last two games but didn’t play, pushing his absence to four games this time around and 21 on the season. Bismack Biyombo has been filling in admirably, enough so that head coach Dwane Casey may opt to keep starting Biyombo while Valanciunas gets his legs back under him. (UPDATE: Valanciunas starts.)
Whoever starts, the Raptors will be back to having perhaps the best center combo in basketball. Valanciunas is still a bit sore from the left hand contusion suffered nine days ago against Chicago, but he sounds like he’ll be glad to be back.
Valanciunas says hand is a bit tender, but he isn’t worried. “Sick of sitting” wants to be back in the mix with team.
— Ryan Wolstat (@WolstatSun) March 23, 2016
James Johnson (Achilles, plantar fasciitis) is also good to go.
Patterson, meanwhile, sat Sunday due to a sore left ankle that cost him the closing minutes of Friday’s blowout victory. There was some confusion from beat reporters at shootaround as to whether Patterson is confirmed as back or officially still questionable, but considering that he looked completely fine at practice Tuesday, getting in some late work, and that Ryan Wolstat isn’t one to throw out WozBombs all willy-nilly, I’m assuming he’s correct that Patterson will play.
UPDATE: Patterson is out with a sore left ankle. Not really the end of the world here, as Patterson was a down-ballot candidate to receive some rest down the stretch, anyway. He’s averaged 25.4 minutes over 68 games, ranking fourth on the team in total minutes and inching toward the career high he set last season.
DeMarre Carroll not traveling
Absent from the visible portion of practice Tuesday, Carroll isn’t traveling with the team on this trip. That only makes sense, given that they’ll only have one practice over four days off, but it does continue to beg the question of when he’ll return, and if it will be enough time to knock the rust off.
I talked about this on TSN 1150 earlier, and here’s what I wrote in yesterday’s mailbag:
The honest truth is that I have no idea. The team is so tight-lipped about everything it’s tough to get a read – the silence could mean Carroll’s suffered a setback or that he’s set to return tomorrow. They’re quiet for the sake of being quiet, not to quell panic or manage expectations.
Reading the tea leaves, it does seem the team may have been liberal with their initial return timeline, one Carroll’s already missed by several weeks. It was unlike the Raptors to confirm any sort of timeline, anyway, but trying to figure a reason why they’d intentionally under-shoot would be grasping for straws without enough information.
Where I’m at is as follows: I’m choosing to believe he’s due back soon, and Josh Lewenberg’s recent report that he’s targeting a late-March return is accurate. I’ve had March 28 circled, personally. It’s the first game back from a three-game road trip and would give him 10 games, eight if he sits one half of back-to-backs. The longer it goes beyond that date, the more worried I’ll grow, but March 28 would give him plenty of time. It’s not necessarily blind optimism or trust in reports, there’s just too little information to know one way or the other, and I don’t want to assume the worst.
That about sums up how I feel. Originally I had circled March 28, but if the Raptors want to ensure Carroll gets ample practice time in before a return to game action, maybe April 1 makes sense – that would allow him to practice with the team Tuesday and Thursday, then rest on the second night of a back-to-back on April 2, before returning home where they have consecutive days off (one rest, one practice). Alternatively, if you want to be real pessimistic, maybe the April 5 home game is the target, giving him just five games (assuming he sits the back-to-back to close the year) to shake off the rust.
I really have no idea. Nobody seems to.
Raptors updates
Check back here for Johnson’s status and full confirmation on Patterson and Valanciunas, but assuming Johnson’s a go and nobody rests, the rotation will look something like this:
PG: Cory Joseph, Delon Wright
SG: Norman Powell, T.J. Ross
SF: DeMar DeRozan, Johnson, Bruno Caboclo
PF: Scola, Jason Thompson
C: Valanciunas, Biyombo, Lucas Nogueira
Celtics updates
Jae Crowder (ankle) is traveling with the team but isn’t expected to play Wednesday. Jonas Jerebko is questionable but expected to play after returning Monday. James Young and Coty Clarke have been assigned to the D-League, leaving the rotation looking like this:
PG: Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier
SG: Avery Bradley, R.J. Hunter
SF: Evan Turner
PF: Amir Johnson, Jerebko, Jordan Mickey
C: Jared Sullinger, Kelly Olynyk, Tyler Zeller
As explained last time out, the Celtics don’t really abide by positions all that often, particularly with Crowder out. They’ll play “three guards and two posts” or something similar, with Jerebko functioning as a stretch four and all three of their centers stepping out.
The line
The Celtics are surprisingly one-point favorites, a swing from Celtics -2.5 to open. This is similar to what happened last week, when the Raptors opened as six-point favorites at home but quickly shifted to three-point favorites. In this case, the opening line would have indicated, to me, that someone on the Raptors is expected to sit by those in the know. But who knows, really, with how quiet the Raptors keep things and how little line swings have meant recently.
Assuming nobody rests, you have to like the Raptors’ chances against a Crowder-less Celtics. Raptors 104, Celtics 98. (UPDATE: With Lowry and Patterson out and the game meaning far more to Boston, I’m switching my pick to the Celtics, with a cover. Not pessimism or negativity, really, you’re just not gonna win them all, and Boston needs this.)
You can check out Tamberlyn’s full game preview here.
Unfollow William Lou
While he’ll still be appearing on Friday’s edition of the Extra Podcast, we’ll be removing all mention of him on the site after that. As the site’s managing editor, I just can’t let tweets like this go unpunished.
Lebron used to be jealous of Arron Unfollow
— William Lou (@william_lou) March 23, 2016
While we’re on Will, go read his piece from earlier this week on a whole host of reasons to love this Raptors team. And bookmark that page, because he’s never allowed back here after that garbage tweet.
