The Toronto Raptors are in for a third big test in short order as a big, physical Denver Nuggets team visits Monday. The Raptors have split a pair at home to start the year, and the expectation is that the roster continuity and five home games in the first six can help the team hit the ground running for 2016-17. Nikola Jokic, Jusuf Nurkic, and Kenneth Faried will do their best to push the Raptors in the paint and take a 5-1 start off the table.
The game tips off at 7:30 p.m. on Sportsnet One and TSN 1050. You can check out the full preview here, including a note on the pushed-back Huskies jersey night.
Raptors updates
Jared Sullinger and Delon Wright remain sidelined long-term, and Lucas Nogueira told Raptors Republic early Wednesday that he’s out once again for this one. That leaves the Raptors thin in the frontcourt again but represents a big opportunity for rookies Pascal Siakam and Jakob Poeltl, who have looked solid through two games.
Perhaps as concerning for Nogueira as the injury is the play of Poeltl, who sounds as if he’s taken the backup center job until further notice.
“Jakob’s doing a great job. He’s (Nogueira) gonna have to get past him (Poeltl) right now, for me, as far as playing, ‘cause Jakob is doing an excellent job,” Casey said at shootaround. “And he fits in to what we need to do tonight, to be physical and hit those guys. It’s one of those games where, unless they do something unusual, big is gonna be important tonight.”
PG: Kyle Lowry, Cory Joseph, Fred VanVleet
SG: DeMar DeRozan, Norman Powell
SF: DeMarre Carroll, Terrence Ross
PF: Patrick Patterson, Pascal Siakam, Bruno Caboclo
C: Jonas Valanciunas, Jakob Poeltl
INJ: Delon Wright, Jared Sullinger, Lucas Nogueira
Nuggets updates
Darrell Arthur (knee) and Gary Harris (groin) both sat out Saturday and are yet to play this season. Arthur is anticipating playing 12-15 minutes in his season debut in this one, but Harris will sit, opening up another opportunity for Jamal Murray.
UPDATE: Arthur is out, after all. So much for his hopes. And dreams.
PG: Emmanuel Mudiay, Jameer Nelson
SG: Will Barton, Jamal Murray, Malik Beasley
SF: Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Mike Miller
PF: Nikola Kokic, Juan Hernangomez
C: Jusuf Nurkic, Kenneth Faried
INJ: Gary Harris, Darrell Arthur
Assorted
- Jamal Murray is looking for his first NBA bucket as he returns home for his third career game. He’s expecting friends and family in the triple-digits for the game and was disappointed not to be able to make a quick trip home to the 519. Still, he’s eager about the opportunity for a big milestone in a familiar setting: “It’d be good. Looking forward to making a shot. It’s going to be a lot of fun to get that first basket, especially at home.”
- Here’s Cory Joseph, in response: ” I think when you don’t have things handed to you, you work hard for it. And hopefully he don’t get his first basket tonight, make that another day.”
- Hey, so, Jonas Valanciunas’ four-year, $64-million contract sure looks good now, eh? Opinions are obviously varied on his overall worth and upside, but it’s hard to argue that his deal isn’t a home run for the Raptors. This was true when looking at some of the deals signed this offseason – the most fair comparison, considering that’s when Valanciunas would have hit market – and even more so now that Steven Adams and Rudy Gobert have signed for $100 million and $104 million, respectively, and Gorgui Dieng getting Valanciunas’ exact deal. God bless “Old Cap Economy” deals.
- And yes, that includes Terrence Ross’ three-year, $31-million deal.
The line
The Raptors are seven-point favorites, which maybe seems a bit steep. This should be a really tough matchup, and the Nuggets don’t leave a lot of room for error. The Raptors have a major edge in guard play, and if Valanciunas can use his quickness advantage to get to Nurkic in transition and early in sets, he could tilt the frontcourt battle back Toronto’s way, too. The rookies have really responded well through two games, and with Nogueira out once again, there’s a lot being asked of them (not to mention a chance for Poeltl to continue running with Nogueira’s job). There are a lot of ways this one could go, and I think the Raptors will do enough to stand the test and lock it down late.
Raptors 101, Nuggets 97
