The Toronto Raptors will play their final game of the 2025-26 NBA regular season at home against the Brooklyn Nets after receiving a thrashing from the New York Knicks on Friday.
It’s fitting that a matchup with Brooklyn is how this team finishes off this season, characterized by the end of the rebuild begun two years ago. After all, it was the Nets who struck down the 2013-14 Raptors in the first round of the playoffs, all those years ago, when DeMar and Kyle were still coming into their own as the duo
that defined Toronto basketball for the 2010s. Perhaps this game against the Nets will be the end of the beginning for the Raptors roster that will define the 2020s.
Toronto is coming into this game after an ugly loss to the Knicks on Friday. No one scored 20 or more points, and they lost by 17 in a blowout. With the contest against the Nets being the last game of the season against such a limited team, the Raptors may choose to rest some starters who are nursing injuries. However, should Toronto lose this game while the Celtics fall to the Magic, the Raptors, currently boasting a record tied with Orlando, could fall into the Play-In. While the Raptors’ situation is favoured in both matchups, they must be cautious in letting the foot off the gas too early. It’s probable that if the game becomes a one-sided contest, some Raptors bench pieces will get extra minutes tonight, so it’s possible that Ja’Kobe Walter and Jamal Shead will see an increased role, especially if RJ Barrett ends up sitting this game out with an injury.
The Raps also have the chance to take the season series tonight, sealing it 3-1 against Brooklyn, who were beat 119-109 on two separate occasions, while trouncing Toronto 96-81 on an off-night for the Raptors in December. Whether for injury or for personal reasons, the Nets are playing without almost every member of their starting lineup, save for Nolan Traore at point guard, who is day-to-day due to illness. Their franchise player, Michael Porter Jr., has been shut down for the season to allow for injury recovery. The Nets have lost 14 of their last 17 games, picking up wins only against fellow bottom-feeders like the Washington Wizards and Milwaukee Bucks. There has never been such a game ripe for the taking. But, if the fiasco that was the loss to the Sacramento Kings on April 1st (a crueler April Fools joke there never was) tells us anything, the Raptors can’t afford to let their guard down entirely, even against opponents like the Nets.
Granted, the Nets are throwing out starting fives like Friday’s against the Bucks, featuring not a single player who’s averaged double digits this season. This is not to say that these players are incompetent, of course, with increased roles naturally resulting in better production, but this team is not equipped to take on the Raptors so shorthanded. While there is some uncertainty about the Raptors heading into the postseason, to think that they can’t beat these Brooklyn Nets is to cast too much doubt upon Toronto.
Game Information and Details
Game Time: 6:00 EDT
Watch On: Sportsnet
Injury Report
Raptors: Trayce Jackson-Davis (Day-to-day – illness), Collin Murray-Boyles (Day-to-day – neck), RJ Barrett (Day-to-day – knee)
Nets: Nolan Traore (Day-to-day – illness), Ochai Agbaji (Day-to-day – back)
Projected Lineups
Raptors: Immanuel Quickley, Scottie Barnes, Brandon Ingram, RJ Barrett, Jakob Poeltl
Nets: Trevon Scott, E.J. Liddell, Malachi Smith, Tyson Etienne, Ben Saraf
