Nets vs. Raptors preview: Sunday night basketball

SB Nation

Best win of the season so far. The Brooklyn Nets went into Friday night’s NBA Cup matchup looking to get some payback against the Boston Celtics. They did that and plenty more as they came away with a 113-105

win.

The opponent tonight is riding the third longest winning streak in the NBA right now. The Toronto Raptors pushed the streak up to six games after dominating the Washington Wizards on Friday night. The W also punched the Raps’ ticket to the NBA Cup knockout round. Things are looking pretty good in Canada!

Where to follow the game

YES Network on TV. WFAN on radio. Gotham Sports on streaming. Tip after 6:00 p.m. ET

Injuries

No Cam Thomas, Ben Saraf, or Haywood Highsmith. Nic Claxton (left elbow sprain) and Egor Dëmin (neck/jaw soreness) are both probable. After big games in Long Island Saturday night, Nolan Traore – 28 points, five rebounds and nine assists – and Danny Wolf – 20 points, six rebounds and five assists – will remain with with the Nets affiliate. Long Island plays again Monday night at Nassau Coliseum.

No Jakob Poeltl. Collin Murray-Boyles is questionable with a MCL sprain.

The game

Toronto won the first game.

For the Nets, games like Friday where the effort is through the roof and everyone’s playing hard is what people want to see. The results are the results for this franchise, but the process takes on even more importance in a season like this. As long as you play hard every night, fans will (mostly) be happy with what you’re doing.

During the game, I mentioned a Nets player was on triple double watch. Turns out, I was half right! Nic Claxton collected his first career triple double as his 18/11/12/1/1 shined brightly on the big stage. Clax has been terrific for much of the season and we’ve really gotten to see him work well as a hub on offense. It’s been exciting to watch him grow into more of his role and a game like this presents another opportunity to showcase his game. With no Poeltl on the inside, the Raptors will be a bit shorthanded. If Clax and Day’ron Sharpe are able to control the boards, they’ll help the Nets control the flow of this game and create a few extra possessions as well.

Take care of Sandy Brondello for us, Toronto!

We are proponents of dunking on people around here, so Drake Powell your efforts are greatly appreciated

Powell has gotten more comfortable each week and is someone who we’ll keep an eye on. He and Egor Dëmin have been a good guard duo and the more reps they get, the more they’ll continue to improve. They’ll face a tough test in Immanuel Quickley tonight. IQ has shot above 45 percent from the field in eight straight games and has been one of the league leaders in drives in recent seasons. He’ll pose a good challenge to the kids and it’ll be exciting to see how they respond.

With a young rotation, the elimination games in the NBA Cup will be great experience for the Raptors. Head coach Darko Rajakovic is making sure his group is ready for this new challenge:

“It’s going to be a different feeling for us because it’s going to be one game to decide are we going to the final four or not. Definitely, we do have ambition and desire to be there, so I’m really excited about the opportunity to play and our players are as well.”

There’s been so many criticisms of the NBA Cup, but if you get to take part in some high-ish stakes games early, it will help come playoff time.

In the game preview to the first matchup, we made mention of Scottie Barnes’ three point shooting. Since then, he’s only shot 30.8 percent from three point range. However, he did go 3-4 on Friday night against the Wizards. Barnes does a lot of things well, and if he can continue to add to his game, he has a chance to be one of the better young stars in the Association.

Player to watch: Brandon Ingram

What’s more exciting than one game ending block? TWO game ending blocks!

That’s the good stuff.

Ingram has picked things up during the six game winning streak. Across that stretch, he’s averaging around 21/5/4 on .471/.240/.870 shooting splits. BI has never been an especially good three point shooter, but the Raps can survive if he does everything else well. He’s an especially good finisher at the rim and if he can get to the cup, he can wreak havoc on the Nets defense.

Speaking of streaks, Michael Porter Jr. will look to keep a streak going. MPJ has scored 20+ points in a career best eight straight games and he’s been incredibly efficient while doing so. His 16 fourth quarter points saved the day and kept the Celtics at bay. It’s not easy scaling all the way up on offense in the ways that Porter Jr has been asked to, and he deserves plenty of credit for meeting the challenge and keeping the offense afloat. This is the first night of a tough back-to-back for the Nets, and if MPJ can keep up his recent success, the Nets have a chance to surprise a few folks.