FINALLY, perhaps the worst month in Raptors history is coming to an end. Care for a recap?
It’s hard to believe, but the Raptors were a .500 team coming into March at 17-17. The first blow started with five players and the majority of the coaching staff being in safety protocols. We learned later that Fred VanVleet had Covid-19 and Pascal Siakam lost 10-15 pounds. Norman Powell tried to haul what was left with crazy scoring performances, ultimately raising his trade value to another stratosphere. Still, Toronto lost five straight games. Ok cool, they’re still a good team though and surely when everyone comes back they will be a playoff threat right?
LOL
What I didn’t see coming was the Raptors extending that losing streak to nine, lows not seen since the Andrea Bargnani days. We held a fake goodbye for Kyle Lowry which overshadowed the real goodbye to Powell. Toronto has the seventh worst record in the league and every loss brings us hilariously closer to having a better chance of landing a Cade Cunningham or Evan Mobley (because nothing has been more pathetic this season than the incredible void at centre). Buyout and G-league hopefuls such as Gorgui Dieng and Alize Johnson went elsewhere.
Overall, the Raptors are 1-12 in March. Only their 1-14 record in March 1998 and 1-15 record in November 2005 were worse.. Ironically, someone from the Trent bloodline was a Raptor in 1998 so it’s clearly Gary Sr and Jr’s fault. Swapping Antawn Jamison for Vince Carter was the result of that futility though so everything turned out ok. If you’re still playoff hopeful though, the Bulls are somehow only two games ahead of the Raptors for the final play-in spot. However they are only two games into the Nikola Vucevic era so maybe thats just growing pains.
On the flip side, the Thunder has been winning more than expected this season (they actually have a better record than the Raptors), which is clearly a no-no for their future plans. To the bench for the forseeable future you go Al Horford! Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is starting to blossom into a special player, averaging nearly 24 points and six assists off 51/42/81 shooting splits. Unfortunately though, the Hamilton native is dealing with plantar fasciitis, so he won’t be playing. Lu Dort has also been turning heads on both ends of the court, but he’s also been ruled out with a concussion.
So what’s left is opportunities galore for an extremely young roster. Theo Maledon and Aleksej Pokusevski are both rookie teenagers and in the starting line-up. Moses Brown and Isaiah Roby are also starting as second year players. Brown had a 21 point, 23 rebound game vs the Celtics on Saturday. That leaves Svi Mykhailiuk starring as grandpa in the starting lineup right now at 23 years old. Oklahoma City’s roster would make for a fun episode of “Who he play for?”
This will be Game four in Raptor uniform for Trent Jr and Rodney Hood. Yes, Norm was averaging more points as a Raptor than both Trent and Hood combined (9.7 and 7.3 ppg respectively) but obviously this was a future move. Trent is only shooting 12-36 but I’m confident those numbers will go up.
Game Info
Tip-off: 8pm EDT | TV: TSN 1/4/5 | Radio: TSN Radio 1050
Raptors Lineup
Paul Watson and DeAndre’ Bembry are still out under health and safety protocols. Patrick McCaw (knee) is also not expected to play.
PG: Kyle Lowry, Malachi Flynn
SG: Fred VanVleet, Rodney Hood
SF: Gary Trent Jr, Stanley Johnson
PF: OG Anunoby, Yuta Watanabe
C: Pascal Siakam, Chris Boucher, Aron Baynes
Thunder Lineup
Aforementioned Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, and Horford are all out. Mike Muscala (ankle) has also been ruled out. Darius Bazley (shoulder) is week to week.
PG: Theo Maledon, Ty Jerome
SG: Svi Mykhailiuk, Kenrich Williams
SF: Aleksej Pokusevski, Justin Jackson
PF: Isaiah Roby, Josh Hall
C: Moses Brown, Tony Bradley,
The Line
The Raptors are favoured by 7.5 points. Most of OKC’s starting line-up could still be in college so it makes sense. The over under is 223.
