Sunday’s game in San Antonio will be a fan favourite this season because of the 22 point comeback and Scottie Barnes officially kickstarting a legitimate chance for his first All-Star campaign. What can the Raptors do for an encore against another Texas team?
Raptors scope (3-4, 9th in East | Offensive Rating: 25th | Defensive Rating: 6th)
Might as well drop some more Scottie content, based on his game tying shot in the fourth quarter.
Barnes is 11-23 behind the arc over his last three games. He ranks top 25 in points and assists per game this season, is in the top 15 in rebounds and top 10 in blocks. Win or lose, following Scottie’s ascension to star status this season is priority #1.
Not to be forgotten, Otto Porter Jr. has played 35 combined minutes in his last two games. He provided a much needed shooting threat for the Raptors fourth quarter lineup that forced overtime against the Spurs.
Mavs scope (6-1, 2nd in West | Offensive Rating: 4th | Defensive Rating: 19th)
Luka Doncic has been nicked up the last couple of games (limping vs Charlotte on Sunday, briefly leaving after bumping his head vs the Magic on Monday). That hasn’t stopped Dallas from putting together an impressive 6-1 start, with their only defeat coming in Denver.
A big reason why has been their deadly three point shooting. Dallas leads the NBA in both threes made (17) and attempted (43) per game. Only the Clippers are shooting a better percentage. This is despite Kyrie Irving’s uncharacteristic 24 percent clip from deep. However Kyrie is averaging a career best 7.8 assists. Luka is in the top five in that category, tied with Dennis Schroder at 8.9.
Game Info
Tip-Off: 8:30pm EST | TV: TSN 3, 4 | Radio: TSN Radio 1050
Raptors Lineup
PG: Dennis Schroder, Malachi Flynn
SG: Scottie Barnes, Gary Trent Jr, Gradey Dick
SF: O.G. Anunoby, Otto Porter Jr, Jalen McDaniels, Garrett Temple
PF: Pascal Siakam, Chris Boucher, Thaddeus Young
C: Jakob Poeltl, Precious Achiuwa
Mavs Lineup
Maxi Kleber (toe) is questionable, he has missed the last three games. Two-way players (A.J. Lawson, Greg Brown III, Dexter Dennis) are with the G-League.
PG: Luka Doncic, Jaden Hardy
SG: Kyrie Irving, Josh Green, Seth Curry, Dante Exum
SF: Derrick Jones Jr, Tim Hardaway Jr, Olivier-Maxence Prosper
PF: Grant Williams, Maxi Kleber
C: Dereck Lively II, Dwight Powell
The Line
Dallas is favoured by 5.5 points. Raptors moneyline is +176. Over/Under is 224.5
