The severely undermanned Toronto Raptors head out to face the Brooklyn Nets in a clash between two non-playoff teams.
Both teams in tonight’s matchup have already been eliminated from playoff contention, and the Raptors’ injury report reflects that.
Nine players on Toronto’s roster are officially out for the game tonight, two of whom are resting following yesterday’s loss to the Pacers. Already out of the playoffs and riddled with injuries, player development and injury avoidance are paramount in this last week of the season.
On the second half of back to back games with travel, the Nets were going to be a tough matchup even if the Raptors were mostly healthy. Rather than looking for a win, fans can look for players in elevated roles to get more touches and see what they’re made of.
One of those guys will be Malik Williams, Toronto’s likely starting centre tonight. He’s only appeared in four career NBA games, his first of which was a start against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He managed to finally score points in the NBA against Indiana with six, and will look to build upon that with extremely limited options at the position.
Game Info:
How to Watch: 7:30pm ET on TSN
Lineups:
Toronto: Immanuel Quickley, Javon Freeman-Liberty, Gradey Dick, Ochai Agbaji, Malik Williams
Brooklyn: Dennis Schroder, Cam Thomas, Malik Bridges, Cam Johnson, Nic Claxton
Injuries:
Toronto: Scottie Barnes (out — hand), Jakob Poeltl (out — hand), Chris Boucher (out — knee), DJ Carton (out — ankle), Jontay Porter (out — personal), RJ Barrett (out — rest), Kelly Olynyk (out — rest), Bruce Brown (out — knee), Gary Trent Jr. (out — back)
Brooklyn: Keita Bates-Diop (out — shin), Dorian Finney-Smith (out — knee), Jaylen Martin (out — ankle), Ben Simmons (out — back), Dennis Smith Jr. (out — hip), Dariq Whitehead (out — shin)