Toronto Raptors vs Brooklyn Nets: Preview

It will be a battle between the 11th and 12th teams in the Eastern Conference tonight as the Nets visit the Raptors

The Toronto Raptors are back home tonight to host the Brooklyn Nets for the first of three home games to end off the month of March. In the course of one month, the Raptors have only won one game (against Charlotte), and have lost their entire core to injuries and absences.

This of course, came after a near full-team rebuild after the Raptors traded eight players prior to this year’s deadline. The Nets have been going through a similar rebuilding process since their super team blew up and all of James Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving left the team.

Now these teams hold the 11th and 12th spots in the Eastern Conference, trying to figure out what comes next.

For the Raptors, maybe the vision is a little more clear — the future of their new core seems to be bright, but we are missing out on building chemistry between them all due to all the absences.

On the other hand, Toronto is also in a fight right now to retain their top-six draft pick in the upcoming NBA draft, and the odds look stacked against them.

It’s hard to know if this Raptors team is really intentionally tanking or if the losses are just a result of missing your entire core and playing a lineup of G-League stars. None the less, the Raptors may be in the midst of an 11-game losing streak after tonight.

I’m not usually one for betting odds, but after Toronto went into their game against the Oklahoma City Thunder as 17.5 point underdogs, I was curious what the odds for this game against Brooklyn would be, given the match up. Toronto (at the time this is being written) are only 6.5 point underdogs, so… not as bad, but still not great.

Game Info:

How to Watch: Sportsnet, 7:30pm

Lineups:

Toronto: Gary Trent Jr., Gradey Dick, Bruce Brown, Ochai Agbaji, Kelly Olynyk

Brooklyn: Miles Bridges, Nic Claxton, Dennis Schroder, Cam Thomas

Injuries:

Toronto: Scottie Barnes OUT (hand), Jakob Poeltl OUT (hand), RJ Barrett OUT (personal reasons), Immanuel Quickley OUT (personal reasons), DJ Carton OUT (ankle), Chris Boucher (knee) OUT, Jontay Porter OUT (personal reasons)

Brooklyn: Dennis Smith Jr. OUT (hip), Keita Bates-Diop OUT (leg), Cameron Johnson OUT (toe), Ben Simmons OUT (back), Dariq Whitehead OUT (leg)

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Dennis Schroder Revenge Game?

Dennis Schroder was unexpectedly traded to the Brooklyn Nets at the deadline for really no return for the Raptors. It was widely believed it was because he was unhappy with the role he had fallen into in Toronto, coming off the bench.

He was better coming off the bench, but he didn’t seem to enjoy it. So now he’s in Brooklyn. It will be the first time he’s been back since that trade, and even though it’s only been two-ish months, he probably won’t recognize anyone on the team now.

Still, he may decide to go off for a wild revenge performance.

Another New Kid on the Block

The Raptors announced yesterday that they are signing Raptors 905 player Kobi Simmons to a 10-day contract with the team. This replaces the 10-day that Jahmi’us Ramsey was most previously on.

Simmons was averaging 15.9 points per game with the Raptors 905 this season. The Raptors have been using the free rosters spots opened up in their trading at the deadline to rotate a number of 10-day contracts in hopes of getting a look at some young players.

Gradey Dick Sharp Shooting

Gradey Dick has had a strange rookie season, but that hasn’t stopped him from developing his game at the NBA level. The former Kansas JayHawk came into the league with a reputation for being a shooter, and he has proven himself this year.

He leads rookies in the league in three point shooting percentage since January 1st (minimum 50 attempts) at 40.3%.

Even with the team on a 10+ game losing streak, it’s definitely nice to see Gradey developing throughout these games.

Toronto vs Brooklyn tips off at 7:30pm ET tonight.