I’m in the middle of watching the season end for the Toronto Blue Jays, barring a late-inning comeback against one of the best bullpens in baseball. There is also pizza. We hit you with a full game preview earlier and I did a Reddit AMA earlier to cover a bunch of angles, so let’s keep this brief.
The game tips off at 7:30 p.m. on but is untelevised. Finding a stream could even be tough (even if there are listings right now), as the game isn’t being broadcast on a Pistons’ station, either. Cross your fingers for League Pass to come through with a stadium feed.
UPDATE: The Pistons are streaming the game!
Raptors updates
The team is remaining cautious and noncommittal on the statuses of Jared Sullinger (foot) and Terrence Ross (knee). I’d have been shocked if Ross played Wednesday, but Sullinger sounded like he was a possibility. Neither is playing, though, and the team isn’t panicking, because, well, yeah, it’s the preseason. That opens up some additional minutes for Pascal Siakam to learn and for Drew Crawford to try to make a final case for inclusion on the roster (leveraging the thin forward depth at present).
As for the others, here’s a best pass,though it’s worth keeping in mind that Casey wants something closer to a regular-season rotation.
PG: Kyle Lowry, Cory Joseph, Fred VanVleet, Brady Heslip, Delon Wright (shoulder)
SG: DeMar DeRozan, Norman Powell, Drew Crawford
SF: DeMarre Carroll, Bruno Caboclo, E.J. Singler, Terrence Ross (knee)
PF: Pascal Siakam, Patrick Patterson, Jarrod Uthoff, Jared Sullinger (foot)
C: Jonas Valanciunas, Lucas Nogueira, Jakob Poeltl, Yanick Moreira
UPDATE: Those are the starters.
For reference, here’s how the minutes have shaken out so far:
Known commodities: Patterson 75 (18.8/game), Valanciunas 75 (18.8), Joseph 71 (17.8), Lowry 58 (19.3), DeRozan 55 (18.3), Carroll 52 (17.3)
Getting acclimated: Sullinger 23 (23)
Competition 1: Siakam 102 (20.4), Nogueira 77 (15.4), Poeltl 72 (14.4)
Competition 2: Powell 114 (22.8), Ross 50 (16.7)
Competition 3: Crawford 114 (22.8), VanVleet 100 (20), Heslip 43 (14.3), Singler 41 (10.3), Uthoff 8 (8), Moreira 5 (5)
Other: Caboclo 64 (12.8), Wright 0
Pistons updates
The Pistons are in pretty good shape outside of the Reggie Jackson (knee) injury, though Tobias Harris and Aron Baynes both have broken noses they’re adjusting to. Baynes is sitting due to his (unleash the Boban!), but Harris will play (it’ll be a short night, it sounds like). They’ll line up something like this, keeping in mind that Stan Van Gundy will use his wings and forwards pretty flexibly.
PG: Ish Smith, Ray McCallum, Lorenzo Brown, Trey Freeman
SG: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Darrun Hilliard, Reggie Bullock
SF: Tobias Harris, Stanley Johnson, Michael Gbinije
PF: Marcus Morris, Jon Leyer, Henry Ellenson
C: Andre Drummond, Boban Marjanovic
The line
The Pistons are 3.5-point favorites, but HOW DO WE KNOW IF WE CAN’T SEE IT? Sounds like a conspiracy to me. The Raptors are definitely going to win but THEY will tell you whatever score suits THEM best, since we’re in the dark. Stay woke, people.
