Gameday: Nuggets vs Raptors, March 24

It’s been a crazy week in Raptor land and it’s only Wednesday. Let’s break down this game in three parts:

1. First All-Women’s Broadcast in NBA History

Originally announced on March 8th during International Women’s Day, the Raptors will feature an all-women led broadcast for the first time. Kate Beirness, Kayla Grey, and Phoenix Mercury guard Kia Nurse have been covering the Raptors all season on TSN. Amy Audibert is an analyst for the Raptors 905. Meghan McPeak was the first woman to do play-by-play for the Raptors 905 in 2015, and now calls games for the Washington Mystics and the G-League’s Capital City Go-Go. This is inspirational, overdue, and should generate more opportunities for women who aspire to be a part of broadcast teams in the future across all sports.

Ahead of a historic night, hear from the women who will be taking over and bringing you all the action tomorrow night at 7:30pm. #IWD2021
📺 The Hangout » https://t.co/PRBc0ljY9M pic.twitter.com/HuurS7DCgc
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) March 23, 2021

2. Anxiety

Woof. Where do we start?

The Raptors last shot to salvage this season in terms of thinking of the present and being a playoff team seemed to sail out of the window with their non competitive act against the Cavs and Rockets. That was supposed to be their least challenging back-to-back of the season. When you are handled by a team that had lost 20 in a row? It’s time to think of the future. Woj is already leading the rumour charge.

Sources: Raptors discussing Kyle Lowry and Norman Powell deals on multiple fronts and those talks are expected to extend into Wednesday — and perhaps even Thursday. Philadelphia, Miami are interested in Lowry, but both have shown restraint in how far they'll go to get a deal.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 24, 2021

The trade Raptor is about to be summoned regarding Kyle Lowry and Norman Powell. Is this their last game coming up? Or was their last game in a Raptors jersey already played in embarrassing fashion, ending a historic losing streak? Is that really the last memory of the Greatest Raptor of All-Time? If it is for KLOE, its actually fitting in an eerie way. Vince Carter’s last memory in a Raptors uniform was him holding his leg in Detroit. Chris Bosh’s last visual was holding his face in Cleveland, which was also the location of DeMar DeRozan’s final moment where he was ejected to cap off Toronto’s humiliating 2018 playoff run/jog/whatever. Of course, Kawhi’s exit was a first for a Finals MVP to begin the next season on a different team. The Raptor way to go out is a weird one.

It’s a touchy subject because in a lot of ways, the 2019 champion Raptors team was broken down beyond their control. First of all, their absolute swagger scarf-wearing run it back except Kawhi and Danny squad had to defend the damn title in a bubble far away from 20,000 screaming fans, which doesn’t even include Jurassic Park. Then just when the 16-15 Raptors seemed to get over the Tampa hump, sitting 4th in the East despite losing Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol, Covid struck the team. Now the wheels have fallen off in yet another season away from home.

Maybe the roster will be different before you even read this. Or perhaps this is all massive speculation about nothing, no moves are made (a mistake) and we continue our merry way this season down the lane of what the hell is this team. Also, are Pascal Siakam and Nick Nurse cool?

3. Oh right… the opponent

Sorry, but the Mile High Boys are definitely third on the list. This will be the second game of a back-to-back for Denver, who won in Orlando on Tuesday. The Nuggets have won eight of their last 10 and are only 2 games away from leaping both L.A. teams for third in the West. Nikola Jokic (who is going to guard him?) normally starts his seasons slow and picks up the pace but he threw away that memo this year. The Joker is a surefire MVP candidate, posting career-high numbers across the board. He even ranks sixth in steals per game. Jokic has recorded triple-doubles in each of his last two games, and has 12 for the season. The next center on that list has two (Mason Plumlee, a good trivia question).

Getting to watch Kitchener native Jamal Murray is always great. The Blue Arrow is averaging a career-high 21.1 points per game and is one of the true microwaves in the league, evidenced by by his 50 burger a month ago on 21-25 shooting and zero free throws! Quick question: Which Canadian are you starting a team with – Murray or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?

The Raptors haven’t suffered a double digit losing streak since January 2011, where they ripped off a cool 13 L’s in a row. Bosh had left the team just months prior. I guess time will tell.