The Toronto Raptors have gotten through the tough, meaty, early part of their 2016-17 schedule. During that time, they’ve beaten every team they were “supposed” to except the Sacramento Kings (twice), dropping games to three of the league’s four best teams (a total of five times). By hammering lesser opponents and playing better teams close, the Raptors have put the league on notice that they’re the class of the league’s second tier. Depending on how much you value wins against elite teams rather than just close games, they may have an argument to be higher – the Raptors are second only to the Warriors in Net Rating (adjusted or unadjusted), and they’re up to 15th in adjusted defensive rating. Most notably, of course, is that their offensive rating right now would be the second-best in the turnover-recorded era, behind only this year’s Warriors. (The power rankers have the Raptors fourth or fifth across the board.)
We lay all of this out because the schedule is changing from here. After beating the Timberwolves and Celtics on a back-to-back Thursday and Friday, things get a little less challenging. There are no easy nights in the NBA, and the Raptors will bounce home-and-road over their next five before embarking on a tough six-game trip across the holidays. But the names on the schedule are not the proving-ground type, and the Raptors will have to wait until that trip to get another chance to make a grasp for the league’s top tier.
The Milwaukee Bucks visit Monday to start a stretch of five in a row against teams at .500 or worse.
“My thing is consistency,” head coach Dwane Casey said before the game. “No matter who you’re playing, what the schedule tells you, we’ve still gotta fight for consistency. That’s my main thing right now. Especially on the defensive end…Whatever the schedule says, let’s fight for consistency.”
In Milwaukee a few weeks back, the Bucks proved a nice test, with the Raptors escaping with just a 105-99 victory. Giannis Antetokounmpo was a terror in that one, posting a 29-6-11 line on 12-of-17 shooting, and the Raptors will have to find some way of keeping him from getting out in transition and wreaking havoc. There’s enough talent outside of Antetokounmpo that the Raptors can ill afford to sleepwalk through too much of the game, though the last two games would suggest that yes, they absolutely can. They’d prefer not to, at least. Anyway, this should be fun.
The game tips off at 7:30 on Sportsnet One and Sportsnet 590. You can check out the full game preview here.
Raptors updates
There’s nothing much going on for the Raptors. DeMarre Carroll should be slated to play after sitting out Friday, giving him three days off between games. Carroll has continued to look more comfortable and more effective when suiting up, and when he doesn’t, Norman Powell has been excellent filling in.
That depth luxury is so pronounced that there’s now the question of how to get Powell more time when Carroll does play, because he’s once again proving deserving. That’s a complicated matter, but head coach Dwane Casey might be able to buy Powell a few minutes here and there by leaning on Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan a little less or playing smaller for longer stretches. The Bucks aren’t an ideal team to play small against, necessarily, given their size at each spot, but they are a team against whom the option to switch a lot is valuable. Last time out, the Raptors mostly stayed traditional, playing just one minute small (with Carroll at the four and Patrick Patterson at the five).
As for who guards Antetokounmpo, that’s likely to be a mix of Carroll, Patterson, Pascal Siakam, and Terrence Ross (or Powell if he plays).
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, Lucas Nogueira, Jakob Poeltl
ASSIGNED: None
OUT: Delon Wright, Jared Sullinger
Bucks updates
The Bucks’ rotation has kind of been all over the place as they aim to figure things out. In the last meeting, Miles Plumlee started and Greg Monroe was taken out of storage as the back-up (he roasted Lucas Nogueira in the post, though Nogueira’s defense outside of that matchup was quite solid), but the Bucks enter with John Henson having most recently started, with Plumlee playing little. Meanwhile, impressive rookie Malcolm Brogdon has shown capable of playing either guard position, and the Bucks often deploy Antetokounmpo as the de facto point guard while natural guards spot up around him.
Elsewhere, Michael Beasley remains the best, averaging 8.5 points in 15.7 minutes with above-average efficiency. The one that got away, like, eight times.
PG: Matthew Dellavedova, Jason Terry
SG: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Malcolm Brogdon, Rashad Vaughn
SF: Tony Snell, Michael Beasley
PF: Jabari Parker, Mirza Teletovic, Steve Novak
C: John Henson, Greg Monroe, Miles Plumlee, Thon Maker
ASSIGNED: None.
OUT: Khris Middleton
Assorted
- The potential assignment players remain with the parent club, even though Raptors 905 are off the road. That`s because the 905 are off until Thursday, when I`d imagine Jakob Poeltl will join Fred VanVleet and Bruno Caboclo for the evening, since the Raptors are likely to be back from Philadelphia in time, anyway.
- Your regular reminder that the Raptors’ depth is dope:
Updated look at the most efficient scorers in the @NBA. Otto Porter makes debut. @warriors with an unprecedented 3 players in the top-10. pic.twitter.com/PdHh1WbAcA
— Synergy Sports Tech (@SynergySST) December 12, 2016
- I don’t know why, exactly, but the idea of Terrence Ross schooling people online as Phil Kessel is too funny to me.
Says he often plays as the Peguins. Says on the video game they’re the equivalent of the NHL’s Golden State Warriors. https://t.co/PJkbF4z5Jz
— Eric Smith (@Eric__Smith) December 12, 2016
The line
The Raptors opened as 8.5-point favorites, and the line has since come down a bit to Raptors -7.5, a steady drop throughout the day (I even saw it open at -9 in one place). The over-under has oscillated between 212.5 and 213.5 and is available at both marks right now. The Raptors have steadied on the defensive end some and slowed things back down, while the Bucks grade as roughly average on each end and in terms of pace. I’d probably take the under, but I’m unsure about the line where it is now (I’d probably take the Raptors if forced, but the steady drop makes me wonder if there’s something I’m missing here).
Raptors 108, Bucks 100
