To be clear off the top: I am not normally a fan of engaging in schadenfreude, the act of taking pleasure in someone else’s misfortune, unless said someone happens to be the Boston Celtics. It is not with ill intent, then, that I feel the need to point out that the Golden State Warriors got stranded on Waiters Island last night, and that the Cleveland Cavaliers were beaten by Why Didn’t The Raptors Sign Terrence Jones and an Anthony Davis-less New Orleans Pelicans squad, dropping them to 2-5 over their last seven.
Instead, I point these things out as a reminder that the season is long, that teams go into slumps, and that it’s unreasonable to expect a team’s very best for 82 games straight. And I make this reminder because the Toronto Raptors are presently on their first three-game losing streak in over a year, one that is seriously threatening to extend to five games as they enter a back-to-back at home against the San Antonio Spurs and at the Memphis Grizzlies. That’s no easy back-to-back with a #FullSquad, and the Raptors are down an All-Star to boot.
The last month – the Raptors are 6-8 – has been frustrating. The defense has been downright bad. The stars look fatigued. But it’s January, the Raptors have dealt with a lot of injuries and rotation juggling, and these things tend to happen to most teams once or twice in a season. This does not excuse their play, which has been bad, full stop. It’s just a plea to keep the needle on “worry” and not quite to “panic” just yet. At least, I think.
Anyway, the Spurs are here, and there are few teams you’d like to run into less than them when struggling. Hooray.
The game tips off at 7 on Sportsnet One and Sportsnet 590. You can check out the full game preview here.
Raptors updates
The Raptors will be without Eastern Conference starting shooting guard DeMar DeRozan for at least this game and the next, at which point he’ll be re-evaluated. That loss is nearly impossible to make up for, but the Raptors will have to hope that some extra shooting, defense, and ball movement can patch together his impact. Norman Powell will probably start, and there will be more minutes for Terrence Ross, Cory Joseph, and perhaps Fred VanVleet at the guard positions. It also makes going small a little more difficult, depth-wise, but that’s OK because…
Patrick Patterson is back! Patterson spoke at shootaround Tuesday, which more or less confirmed that his probable tag meant yes and it will be nice for the Raptors to have their best team defender and super-sub back in the mix. How the rotation shakes out, exactly, is unclear with Patterson, Jared Sullinger, and Lucas Nogueira all back now, but it almost certainly spells the end of Pascal Siakam and Jakob Poeltl seeing significant minutes. The Raptors can continue starting Nogueira and use Patterson-Sullinger off the bench, or they could make the move to whatever long-term starting lineup Dwane Casey sees for this squad (likely with Sullinger starting alongside Jonas Valanciunas).
However it shakes out, it’s great news that the Raptors will have their full frontcourt at their disposal for the first time this season. At least, we think – it’s entirely possible that Patterson and/or Sullinger can only play one half of the back-to-back here, in which case it would make sense to play one each game. But there’s nothing saying that’s the case, and the sudden depth allows the Raptors to limit the minutes of each if necessary.
Your guess is as good as mine on a starting lineup, but before the game, I guessed with other writers that Powell and Sullinger would start. UPDATE: Hey, I got one!
PG: Kyle Lowry, Cory Joseph, Fred VanVleet
SG: Norman Powell, Terrence Ross, Delon Wright
SF: DeMarre Carroll, Bruno Caboclo
PF: Jared Sullinger, Patrick Patterson, Pascal Siakam
C: Jonas Valanciunas,Lucas Nogueira, Jakob Poeltl
TBD: None
ASSIGNED: None
OUT: DeMar DeRozan
Spurs updates
Some Raptor fans got excited yesterday when the Spurs sat Kawhi Leonard, but despite initial reports of a hand injury, Gregg Popovich later said it was a non-injury, and the team officially declared his absence for rest. So, sorry guys, Leonard appears set to play, which means at least one, maybe three or five or eight Raptors at a time will be completely smothered on defense. Popovich said he didn’t know Leonard’s status, but he wasn’t on the shootaround injury report.
UPDATE: In a bit of a surprise, Leonard is sitting with a sore hand. Good news for the Raptors, that.
Elsewhere, Tony Parker will sit, freeing Dejounte Murray to start at the point again, while Manu Ginobili is listed as probable and should get the nod. Jonathon Simmons is also out due to a wrist injury. And hey, the Spurs signed Joel Anthony to a 10-day contract! CanBall rules the world even more.
The Spurs signed Anthony, by the way, to help make up for the absence of Pau Gasol. Gasol being out has meant David Lee or Dewayne Dedmon start, and the Raptors would probably prefer it’s Dedmon that gets the nod here. Toronto could go dual-centers against either, but Lee’s playmaking and mid-range shooting make him a tougher challenge for the defense next to LaMarcus Aldridge.
PG: Dejounte Murray, Patty Mills
SG: Danny Green, Manu Ginobili, Bryn Forbes
SF: Kyle Anderson
PF: LaMarcus Aldridge, Davis Bertans
C: Dewayne Dedmon, David Lee, Joel Anthony
TBD:
ASSIGNED: None
OUT: Pau Gasol, Tony Parker, Jonathon Simmons, Kawhi Leonard
Assorted
- Delon Wright and Bruno Caboclo were assigned to Raptors 905 on Monday for practice, almost surely signalling they’ll stay behind Wednesday for an 11 a.m. tip-off at Hershey Centre. Whether or not they’ll be recalled to sit on the bench for this one – only one would be active – is unclear. Wright posted an Instagram post around 5:15 showing him on the Gardiner, so maybe he’s on his way here.
- UPDATE: They’re officially recalled, and Caboclo is inactive.
- Bit of a weird one here: According to CBS Philly, Kyle Lowry was the victim of a multi-million dollar jewelry burglary ring. It’s unclear how much Lowry was hit for or what the timing of the theft was – the Raptors declined comment for the story – but his home was apparently one of the locations hit by the ring.
- Gregg Popovich has a reservation at Sotto Sotto and is thankful for the 7 p.m. start.
- Related to the Gasol injury, look at this lovely human:
Thank you everyone for all of your support. Looking forward to getting back on the court!! #GoSpursGo pic.twitter.com/RmIGazAf1M
— Pau Gasol (@paugasol) January 24, 2017
The line
The Raptors are 3-point underdogs on home court, which is probably fair with DeRozan out, the Raptors struggling, and the Spurs Spursing. The line has bounced between 2.5 and 3.5 throughout the day. The over-under sits at 206, which makes for a tough call since both sides play at a slower pace and the game figures to be somewhat plodding. I’d probably take the under, and with the Spurs missing so many bodies, I’m going to have faith the Raptors can shake the losing streak off.
