The Toronto Raptors have officially signed Jeremy Lin (who will play tonight), though the terms of the deal have yet to be fully disclosed. He’ll be an immediate boost for the Raptors’ bench, which will be without backup point guard Fred VanVleet for at least the next five weeks as he recovers from left thumb surgery. Lin can competently run the pick-and-roll, is a solid shooter, and can generally act as a secondary or even primary playmaker with the bench unit, something that group sorely lacks even with a staggered starter on the floor.
As for Leonard’s status, this is simply a continuation of what the Raptors have done all season, treating his health with the utmost caution in order to keep him fresh for what the organization hopes is a lengthy playoff run. Per Blake Murphy on Twitter, Leonard even mentioned that he expects to continue to need periodic nights off as the season wears on.
The game tips off at 7:30PM ET on TSN and and TSN 590. Your usual pre-game news and notes herald, Louis Zatzman, wrote today’s preview, which you can read here.
Toronto Updates
As aforementioned, Leonard is out (left knee soreness) and Lin will suit up. Patrick McCaw is a late scratch as well with a sore right shoulder.
Malcolm Miller has been assigned to the Raptors 905 and will play tonight against the Santa Cruz Warriors.
PG: Kyle Lowry, Jeremy Lin, Jordan Loyd
SG: Danny Green
SF: Norman Powell, OG Anunoby
PF: Pascal Siakam, Chris Boucher
C: Serge Ibaka, Marc Gasol
OUT: Kawhi Leonard, Fred VanVleet, Patrick McCaw
TBD: None
905: Malcolm Miller
Washington Updates
John Wall (Achilles) and Dwight Howard (back) are out. Tomas Satoransky, who was listed as questionable this morning due to personal reasons, is also now officially listed as out.
Devin Robinson (hip) is still sidelined, but is expected to return to the Go-Go post-All-Star break.
PG: Chasson Randle
SG: Bradley Beal, Troy Brown, Jordan McRae, John Jenkins
SF: Trevor Ariza, Wesley Johnson, Sam Dekker
PF: Jeff Green, Bobby Portis, Jabari Parker
C: Thomas Bryant, Ian Mahinmi
OUT: John Wall, Dwight Howard, Tomas Satoransky, Devin Robinson
TBD: None
Go-Go: None
The Line
With Leonard confirmed as out, the line (-11 this morning) has moved to -9.5 for the Raptors. The over-under is 232.5.
