The Toronto Raptors are hoping for a better performance in Sacramento than Kanye West as they visit the Kings on Sunday. Am I doing this topical humor thing correctly? Kanye did a terrible set filled with rants and little music, you see. And it made DeMarcus Cousins and the Kings mad. I don’t know. Probably no Yeezy on the Golden 1 Center speakers anymore, though, that’s for sure.
Whatever the soundtrack, the Raptors visit in the midst of a really tough stretch of schedule. Even if the Kings are a winnable game and it’s “only” the second game of the five-game trip, they’ve played three tight ones (one of them in overtime) in a row, with travel between each. If you extend the scope of the trip back to the Cleveland-Golden State back-to-back, it’s really a pretty hellacious seven-game stretch. I think 3-2 was probably the goal for the trip, and 2-3 would be acceptable, with 4-1 a best-case (that Clippers game Monday is a schedule loss if there ever were one), so this Kings game stands as one of the “swing” games. It’s entirely winnable, but the Raptors learned in the last meeting that there’s no room for lethargy or slack.
Anyway, let’s get these buckets. I hope you all feel better than I do, your pizza is warm and delicious, and you won your fantasy matchups.
The game tips off at 9 p.m. on Sportsnet One and Sportsnet 590. Here’s the full game preview, which has just a bananas comment thread for a Sunday pre-game, because our commenters are the best.
Raptors updates
The Raptors are as healthy as they’ve been in some time but they’re still a little shorthanded with two players on assignment (Raptors 905 play at a 2 p.m. today, by the way). Lucas Nogueira was not with the team Friday due to the birth of his daughter, Stella (congratulations!), but he’s expected to rejoin the team for this one. That just leaves the question of DeMarre Carroll, who recent history suggests may sit out one leg of this Sunday-Monday back-to-back. We’ll assume he’s playing until we’re told otherwise, as the Raptors aren’t tipping their hand.
Casey said "we'll see" RE: whether Carroll will play tonight or tomorrow. Raptors said last week he wouldn't play both gms in back to backs
— Eric Smith (@Eric__Smith) November 21, 2016
It’s worth remembering that Jonas Valanciunas didn’t suit up for the last meeting, which provided an opportunity for Nogueira to break out a bit. Valanciunas will start again and push Cousins defensively, but head coach Dwane Casey should be plenty comfortable with Nogueira as a defensive option against Cousins based on how things went last time. Elsewhere in the rotation, the Kings might present an opportunity to go a little smaller, since they’re playing small, anyway. Patrick Patterson is probably the team’s best non-Carroll option on Rudy Gay at the four, but if things go awry, I could see Casey unleashing one of the mega-fun three-wing lineups we’ve seen for brief stretches in the past.
UPDATE: Carroll is playing. Context clues suggest he may sit tomorrow, but wait for official word on that tomorrow. It makes sense from a tactical standpoint, given the Clippers have easier threes (Mbah a Moute, Anderson) to slot DeRozan on to than the Kings, and it gets Powell chasing Redick.
PG: Kyle Lowry, Cory Joseph
SG: DeMar DeRozan, Norman Powell
SF: DeMarre Carroll, Terrence Ross
PF: Patrick Patterson, Pascal Siakam
C: Jonas Valanciunas, Lucas Nogueira, Jakob Poeltl
ASSIGNED: Fred VanVleet, Bruno Caboclo
OUT: Delon Wright, Jared Sullinger
Kings updates
There’s a bit of guess-work to do here since the Kings haven’t played a game with their new smaller edict yet, but Matt Barnes did start one game earlier in the year and has been getting a ton of run off the bench. The Kings continue to lean on veterans over their young players, which, cool, do you, I guess, Kangz. This is the worst win-now team, based on how they’ve played so far (Raptors game aside), and half the team seems to want out.
UPDATE: Barnes does indeed start.
Arron Afflalo and his support cast did one of the best jobs we’ve seen on DeRozan so far this year, although a part of that was just an off night for the NBA’s maestro of the mid-range. DeRozan posted a season-low 23 points against the Kings, shooting 7-of-20 but at least getting to the line 10 times. Dude is still averaging 33 points on 50.3-percent shooting, 12 games into the season. Good luck repeating the 23-point outing, Kings defenders.
PG: Ty Lawson, Garrett Temple
SG: Darren Collison, Garrett Temple, Ben McLemore
SF: Matt Barnes, Omri Casspi, Malachi Richardson
PF: Rudy Gay, Anthony Tolliver, Skal Labissiere
C: Future Raptor DeMarcus Cousins, Kosta Koufos, Willie Cauley-Stein, Georgios Papagiannis
Assorted
- Little surprise here, but the NBA identified Wilson Chandler’s obvious travel as an “incorrect non-call” in the Last Two Minute Report from Friday’s game. Before anyone gets too mad, the L2M also identified a missed call on a DeRozan travel earlier in the fourth. So it all evens out, I suppose.
- The 905 won in a blowout today. You might want to read our recap and see what Bruno Caboclo got up to. It was something else.
- Raptors in the Santa Clause parade alert!
Hey, look at me! The #TOSanta parade is on! @TOSanta here I come! Tons of people lining the streets! @raptors pic.twitter.com/I8oBnNViPj
— The Raptor (@the_raptor) November 20, 2016
The line
The Raptors have had a tough travel schedule of late, close games that have required heavy minutes for key players, and they’re on the road in the first half of a back-to-back. Still, they’re 3.5-point favorites, after opening as 5.5-point favorites. Clearly, the market saw some potential for fatigue with a wider line, and this one (groan) suggests the game could be similar to the last meeting or to Friday’s battle with Denver. It’s hard to picture the Raptors playing so poorly against the same team twice in a row, but the Cousins-as-lone-big idea scares me a bit, even if the Raptors have a significant backcourt edge.
Raptors 107, Kings 10
