After handily defeating a shorthanded Magic team, the Raptors are gearing up to square off for the second game of the season series, with more on the line than before.
After mutilating Orlando by 30 points, Toronto should feel confident with them as their first opponent of Group Play, which decides who’s able to enter the seeding of the tournament bracket. The Raptors made the Knockout Round last year, but were defeated in the quarter-finals by the eventual champions, the New York Knicks.
If the Raptors’
last game was any indication, getting back to the Knockout Round looks to be extremely likely this year, as their lineups of opponents will be the Orlando Magic, followed by the Milwaukee Bucks, the Detroit Pistons, and finally, the Brooklyn Nets.
The only team in the group that appears to be near the calibre of Toronto in this group is the Detroit Pistons, who have the potential to give the Raptors a lot of trouble with their centre play. Other than that, the Raptors should steamroll the other three matchiups, even without Kawhi Leonard.
Toronto has only two players missing tonight’s game, those being Leonard, and centre Nate Bittle. Bittle is a rookie who has not yet seen NBA playing time, and seeing how he’ll slot into the Raptors’ rotation will be interesting, as Rajaković has noted that “everything is on the table” for players at that position.
Orlando’s injury situation is quite another story. They’re without five players, a number of them starters, most notably Paolo Banchero and Jalen Suggs. Jonathan Isaac is also sidelined, as well as forwards Noah Penda and Izaiyah Nelson.
While victory is never guaranteed, the Raptors should take this game as an opportunity to bolster their new lineup with Ja’Kobe Walter starting, giving the players more reps with the shooter now that he’s playing an even larger role on the team. As well, this game will hopefully be the one in which Jakob Poeltl is able to demonstrate his capabilities.
His coach has done a lot to stand beside Poeltl throughout a very difficult start to the season for the big man, whose offensive production has plummeted, in large part as a result of his attempting less than two field goals per game this season. Evidently, the team is sticking by their guy, but this means that whatever the reason for Poeltl not taking more shots — coaching schemes, anxiety, or otherwise — needs to be overcome.
Outside of the horrific zero-point showing against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Scottie Barnes has looked like an All-Star this season, averaging more than 20 points and already having notched his first double-double of the season against the Washington Wizards.
His massive 360 dunk last game has gone viral, with more than 300,000 views on the NBA’s Twitter page alone, and it’s brief moments like these that remind you that Barnes is 25, a two-time All-Star, and in year six of his NBA career. The Raptors have a *guy* that’s not named Kawhi Leonard, who is (excluding the Wolves game) putting together an impressive start to the season.
The Magic game tonight gives the Raptors the opportunity to tighten up their new lineup ahead of a three game road trip mostly in the Western Conference, where the Raps will get their first look at this year’s Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, and LA Clippers. Canadian comedian Nathan Fielder made the show “The Rehearsal” before the film “You Can See Everything,” and much like him, the Toronto Raptors will have an opportunity to rehearse before they have to see everything California and Colorado has in store for them.
