The Toronto Raptors host the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night, and it presents an interesting opportunity for reflection on two fronts. The first is more tangible: The Raptors squandered a winnable game in San Antonio earlier in the year in a fashion they’d like to iron out of their modus operandi. Winning here, and doing so in a style closer to their new ideal, would probably be a nice affirmation of the process for them.
The other is a little ethereal: The Spurs are an incredible organization, one of the best in sports, and the Raptors – every team, really – want to get to that level in time.
“Consistency and continuity,” head coach Dwane Casey said at shootaround. “Just watching him (Gregg Popovich) build that program and build the culture and build everything the way he’s done. But the continuity, the time he’s had there, the trust that the ownership put into him in building the program, the selection of players he brought in was special. There’s a lot of luck in that but also too he got players to fit his program…There’s so many variables in so many different markets that demand different things, the fan pressure or whatever. Everybody wants immediate gratification and wants it done yesterday but it takes time to build that.”
To be frank, it’s what the Raptors have been trying to build toward themselves over the last five years. Not a Spurs knock-off organization, but something resembling the Spurs in terms of culture, consistency, and sustained success.
“For sure. I think we’ve definitely been working towards that and we have that,” DeMar DeRozan said. “Especially with our organization and the quality of guys we’ve had over years that gave us the camaraderie that shows on the court.”
Five years is a blink compared to what San Antonio’s done, sure. You have to start somewhere, and the Raptors are moving in the right direction, sans the championship pedigree. A win Friday wouldn’t move the needle in that regard, but there’s never a win against the Spurs that isn’t a good one.
The game tips off at 7 on TSN 1/4/5 and Sportsnet 590. You can check out the full game preview here.
Raptors updates
Fred VanVleet remains a game-time call for the Raptors once again. Casey said before the game that he’s still dealing with soreness but that there’s no risk of making the injury worse since it’s just a contusion, so the team will see how he feels in warmups. He warms up early, so game-time call here could mean any minute.
The Raptors are healthy otherwise. Delon Wright and Norman Powell will soak up more responsibility if VanVleet can’t go, and you should have a good sense of what the rotation looks like beyond that at this point. Keep an eye on minutes for Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan on the first night of a tough back-to-back.
UPDATE: VanVleet is listed as active, but the team never updated whether he was playing or not. So he might be available, and might not be? Lorenzo Brown is with the 905, so maybe he’s the 11th/12th man and only there if necessary. The team never updated either way.
PG: Kyle Lowry, Delon Wright, (Fred VanVleet)
SG: DeMar DeRozan, Norman Powell
SF: OG Anunoby, C.J. Miles
PF: Serge Ibaka, Pascal Siakam, Alfonzo McKinnie
C: Jonas Valanciunas, Jakob Poeltl, Lucas Nogueira
OUT: None
TBD: Fred VanVleet
905: Bruno Caboclo, Lorenzo Brown, Malcolm Miller
Spurs updates
San Antonio comes in shorthanded, but that doesn’t really matter because, well, they’re San Antonio. Kawhi Leonard, Rudy Gay, and Manu Ginobili are all sidelined, which is immensely disappointing from a basketball fandom perspective. No Ginobili should be a crime. The Raptors aren’t sleeping on what the Spurs will look like down three rotation players – if anything has defined this Spurs dynasty, it’s the ability to keep humming along even as guys get lost to injury. It’s next man up to its logical extreme.
“I don’t know. Pop knows something we don’t know. Something,” DeRozan said. “Because I’ve been watching them my whole career, being a fan of his resume growing up. It’s amazing how he do it. I have no clue how he do it. I don’t know. Hopefully one day I can ask him.”
The SPurs somehow manage to be good no matter who they trot out, and this should be no exception. The projected starters are a plus-32.3 in 67 minutes together, a plus-10.5 in 155 minutes together with Patty Mills in Tony Parker’s place, and even plus-0.3 with Dejounte Murray in that spot, even though his role has bounced around plenty. Add in some shooting from Davis Bertans in the frontcourt rotation and a handful of useful guards to trot out, and there are no real soft spots for San Antonio, even down three names.
PG: Tony Parker, Dejounte Murray, Derrick White
SG: Danny Green, Patty Mills, Bryn Forbes
SF: Kyle Anderson, Brandon Paul
PF: LaMarcus Aldridge, Davis Bertans
C: Pau Gasol, Joffrey Lauvergne
OUT: Kawhi Leonard, Manu Ginobili, Rudy Gay
TBD: None
Austin: Darrun Hilliard, Matt Costello
Assorted
- Raptors 905 are in Greensboro tonight for a 7pm tip. Bruno Caboclo remains on assignment, joined by Lorenzo Brown and Malcolm Miller for this one while Alfonzo McKinnie stays up with the Raptors.
- Over at The Athletic, I wrote about how Kennedy Meeks’ keyed the team’s turnaround. I also dropped some reporting/scouting notes and quotes as they pertain to the Raptors/Raptors 905, coming off of The G League Showcase.
- Also at The Athletic, I dove into the Raptors’ numbers at the mid-way point to see how the culture reset is coming along.
- The Last Two Minute Report for Raptors-Pistons is downright weird:
L2M report from Raptors-Pistons:
*Missed Offensive 3 second on Lowry (1:04)
*Missed lane violation on Lowry (0:44, lol)
*Missed loose ball foul on Drummond (0:17)
*Missed illegal inbound by Galloway (0:06)— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) January 18, 2018
The line
The Raptors are 6-point favorites with a 205.5 over-under.
