HERE WE GO!!!

The NBA’s 75th season has officially kicked off, starting with last nights double header between the Bucks and Nets and the Warriors and Lakers.

BUT, nobody’s thinking about that right now because the Toronto Raptors are playing a real home game in front of a real home crowd at Scotiabank Arena for the first time in 51,753,600 seconds, or 862,560 minutes, or 14,376 hours, or 599 days. But who’s counting?

It’s been a long 1.5 years and the city is buzzing. You know how The Rock, pardon me, Dwayne Johnson, has that catchphrase whenever he comes to address the crowd of whatever city he’s in? Well…

FINALLY, THE RAPTORS HAVE COME BACK TO TORONTO.

Okay, I’m done.

Resist fouling

Take what you see in preseason with the tiniest grain of salt because it’s in no indicative of what lies ahead in the regular season. Case in point: the Washington Wizards got to the line almost 30 times, firmly planting themselves at second in the league for that category. They knocked down 75% of those attempts, however, they clearly know how to draw contact and have players that aren’t scared to get physical. The atmosphere in Toronto at Scotiabank Arena is going to be electric so I have no doubt the players will be refreshed and absolutely hyped. But you don’t want to get too hyped and start jumping at every shot attempt. Washington has loaded up and probably has their most offensively innovative team in years. There are guys that can score from anywhere on the court in Bradley Beal, Spencer Dinwiddie, Kyle Kuzma, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. When fouling, the Raptors need to be smart.

Be hyper-active in the passing lanes

Although the Wizards can light it up on offense, there’s no obvious facilitator. A lot of these guys are still proving that they can be effective off-the-ball and when you take that into account with several new teammates, it’s reasonable that Washington may struggle to get into a rhythm, the same way Toronto might too. Both teams had a massive roster turnover this summer but the difference is that, what was once Toronto’s young core, has now shifted into their core leaders. The Wizards, on the other hand, focused more on adding veterans that could help a team win now, as opposed to going with a full-on youth movement.

Game Info

Tip-Off: Wednesday, October 20, 7:30 P.M. ET | TV: TSN1, TSN3, TSN4 | Radio: SN Fan 590

Toronto’s Lineup

Pascal Siakam (shoulder), and Yuta Watanabe (calf strain) are unavailable. Updates will come as the day goes on.

PG: Goran Dragić, Malachi Flynn, Dalano Banton

SG: Fred VanVleet, Gary Trent Jr., Svi Mykhailiuk, David Johnson*

SF: OG Anunoby, Sam Dekker, Justin Champagnie*

PF: Scottie Barnes, Isaac Bonga

C: Precious Achiuwa, Khem Birch, Chris Boucher

Washington’s Lineup

Thomas Bryant (knee), Rui Hachimura (personal), and Cassius Winston (hamstring) won’t play for Washington tonight. Updates will come as the day goes on.

PG: Spencer Dinwiddie, Aaron Holiday, Raul Neto

SG: Bradley Beal, Corey Kispert, Joel Ayayi

SF: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Deni Avdija, Anthony Gill

PF: Kyle Kuzma, Davis Bertans, Isaiah Todd

C: Daniel Gafford, Montrezl Harrell