Can the Toronto Raptors repeat a win against Sacramento Kings?

Playing the Kings for the second time in one week, the Raptors will try to repeat the success they had last weekend.

This week kinda feels like deja vu in a lot of ways.

Morbid subtext aside, the Toronto Raptors played the Denver Nuggets for the second time in a week on Monday. Tonight, they will play the Sacramento Kings for the second time in a week, after winning the first match last Saturday. While they lost both games against the Nuggets by close margins, the goal would be to go 2-0 against the Kings this week.

This young Raptors team has certainly proven they have the guts to win against competitive teams. Even in games they’ve lost in the past few weeks, many of those victories have been by close numbers. While it’s definitely frustrating for the team to lose in those ways, the progress they’ve made and lesson learned in this stretch alone have been fantastic — especially when you think about the injuries this team is dealing with.

Yet, on the other side of the court, DeMar DeRozan and a Kings team that was given the “young and fearless” label a few seasons ago may be out for revenge. While the whole “Drake vs DeMar” fiasco feels pretty damn stupid if you ask me, you can’t deny that DeRozan may want to put this team in their place after all this discourse. Or at the very least, prove something to anyone not on his side.

In reality, this is a 10pm game, the night after a late election night, and many East Coasters with morning jobs prob won’t tune in. That’s okay, we got ya regardless. If you do wanna tune in, we’ll be on Playback.

Game Info:

Time/Watch: 10PM Eastern, Sportsnet

Lineups:

Toronto: Gradey Dick, Jakob Poeltl, RJ Barrett, Ochai Agbaji, Davion Mitchell

Sacramento: DeMar DeRozan, Domantis Sabonis, Doug McDermott, Keegan Murray, De’Aaron Fox

Injury Reports:

Toronto: OUT — Scottie Barnes (Oribital Fracture), Bruce Brown (knee), Kelly Olynyk (Back), Carton (G-League), Chomche (G-League) DOUBTFUL — Immanuel Quickley (Pelvic Contusion)

Sacramento: QUESTIONABLE — Kevin Huerter (illness)

Okay, so what can the Raptors do to win this game? Let’s take a look at the previous game against the Kings and see what stood out:

Gradey Dick Production

As is the case in every game lately, Gradey Dick seems to be the key to success — until the team is healthy at the very least. Gradey is averaging 20+ points per game, and leading his draft class in PPG, as well as 3-pointers made this season. He is leading the NBA in mid-range field goal percentage (among players with at least 25 shot attempts).

In Saturday’s game against Sacramento, Gradey scored 22 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals. That’s fantastic, but we know he can do better than that. He only shot 6-17 from the field in that game, and clearly he has the green light to shoot whenever he wants. If more of those (especially the shots from distance) can go in, while he always maintains production from the midrange, he already puts the Raptors in a good place to succeed.

The improvement (for the whole team, not just Gradey) should come on the defensive end.

Play Better Defence

In Saturday’s victory against the Kings, they allowed Sacramento to score 128 points on the night. The benefit was that their offence was popping off and they scored 131 points to win. Yet, with a young team who has an (understandable) tendency to sometimes go through scoring droughts and/or not be very efficient, they gotta start on the defensive end.

Yes, the age old “defence creates offence”, “defence wins games”, “defensive identity” stuff.

The team has been great on the glass (Poeltl, Gradey, Barrett), but they are also going up against one of the best bigs and rebounders in the league in Sabonis. They will need to continue to be active on the defensive glass to avoid Sabonis getting second chance opportunities.

Keep that Young Fighting Spirit

Ironic, lol.

Team culture and identity is everything with a young team. I’ve written time and time again about the importance of Garrett Temple on this squad but his impact is immeasurable. He is such a big reason (in my opinion) that these young players have that “prove ourselves” hustle mentality.

It’s been one of the biggest reasons why this season has been so enjoyable despite the team’s record. If you have the attitude that you can’t win, you won’t win. Sometimes you’ll still lose of course, but attitude is a huge aspect.

It helps they’ve already beat this team. Go in with confidence and do it again. Take the faults you noticed the last time (I’m sure there was a hearty film sesh in preparation) and fix those mistakes. Keep your heads up despite the record.

Motivation to purely win is also there, but rejecting the single-mindedness of blame and going into games with a positive outlook is key.

Temple is a really good example of that. He’s such a good influence on these young men, on and off the court. You heard it in last season’s exit interviews and I’m sure you’ll hear it again when these players are asked this season.

Join us on Playback for tonight’s Raptors vs Kings game at 10pm: