Gameday: Warriors @ Raptors, January 13

The Toronto Raptors have come full circle. From fun, acceptable, losses, to a brief bit of winning, to some truly hideous losses, and now back to close games that are wins in the development and information gathering war – even if they don’t count in the standings.

The Raptors are looking to end a five-game losing streak that started with consecutive rough outings against the Orlando Magic and Milwaukee Bucks. The last three games have been of the “ethical tank” variety, as Toronto has kept it (at least reasonably) close with three teams that are all above .500 and solidly in mix to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference; the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Detroit Pistons. Spectacularly, the closest of these efforts was the Raptors’ 132-126 loss to the NBA-leading Cavaliers. They gave the all-time juggernaut a solid scare, keeping the game within one possession with under a minute to go, nearly ending what at the time was an NBA-best 11-game winning streak for the Cleveland.

The Golden State Warriors visit Scotiabank Arena on Monday, looking to right a mini-slump of their own, having lost three of their last four games.

Raptors Outlook: 

8-31 (14th in Eastern Conference) | Off rating: 109.9 (24th) | Def rating: 117.8 (28th) | Net rating: -7.9 (27th)

@ Detroit L 123-114

@ Cleveland L 132-126

@ New York L 112-98

vs Milwaukee L 128-104

vs Orlando L 106-97

Through four games, the Raptors newly minted starting five has already played the third most minutes of any five-man lineup on the team (they’re two minutes short of second). This 62 minute sample is far too small to evaluate, but for what it’s worth they are -25 so far. The Raptors’ offensive rating during this span has seen a slight bump up to 111.9, but their defensive rating has ballooned to 125.3.

They’ve actually taken less 3-point attempts and pull-up 3s than before the lineup was fully healthy. This is partially due to Immanuel Quickley working his way back into form after a partially torn UCL and Scottie Barnes eschewing some deeper pull-ups in favour of his burgeoning mid-range game.

Chris Boucher has been going ballistic lately, firing more recklessly from 3 than before and hitting the majority of them. First he came off the bench for garbage time against the Knicks and scored 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting. He followed that up by going for 23 points and 12 rebounds against the Cavaliers, shooting 5-of-8 from downtown. Then against the Pistons he went berserk in the first quarter, scoring all 14 of his points and shooting 4-of-5 from 3.

Jamal Shead’s performance of late is also noteworthy. He’s been touching the paint with greater frequency and his playmaking has looked crisper. After struggling from distance to start the season, the rookie guard is 5-of-6 from 3 over his past three games, and is shooting 42.6 percent from long-range over his last 20, albeit on low volume. Raptors Republic’s Louis Zatzman watched film with Shead and wrote an exceptional piece about the rookie’s year thus far in contrast with the other small, under-drafted point guards who have excelled in Toronto.

Warriors Outlook: 

19-19 (10th in Western Conference) | Off rating: 111.0 (20th) | Def rating: 110.5 (8th) | Net rating: 0.6 (15th)

@ Indiana L 108-96

@ Detroit W 107-104

vs Miami L 114-98

vs Sacramento L 129-99

vs Memphis W 121-113

The Warriors have dealt with some injuries lately during their rough stretch. Jonathan Kuminga sprained his ankle and will be sidelined for at least three weeks. Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green have all missed games sporadically in the new year with various nagging injuries.

However the Golden State’s injury report for Monday’s game doesn’t include many of the team’s big names, with only Draymond Green listed as questionable with a back issue.

The Curry-led squad takes a ton of 3s, of course – 41.4 per game, good for fourth in the league – and these mostly come from above the break. Their offence has been fairly ineffective on the whole this season, hitting from 3 at a fairly average clip both on the whole and from above the break (36.3 percent and 35.8 percent respectively). They rank 26th in league in rim frequency, and their half court offence ranks 19th in league in points per play on Cleaning the Glass. They are even worse in transition.

The Warriors defence however is a tough matchup for the Raptors. The Dubs do an incredible job at limiting opponents’ ability to get shots at the rim, allowing the second lowest rim frequency in the league. The Raptors’ offence has the second highest rim frequency, and the only team who scores a higher percentage of points in the paint is the Denver Nuggets. The Raptors aren’t well equipped for a 3-point shootout, we know how that story goes.

Both Green’s availability and Barnes’ ability to get to his shot in the mid-range will be big factors in this contest.

Projected starting lineups (as of 9 a.m. ET)

Toronto Raptors

PG: Immanuel Quickley

SG: Gradey Dick 

SF: RJ Barrett 

PF: Scottie Barnes 

C: Jakob Poeltl 

Golden State Warriors

PG: Stephen Curry

SG: Dennis Schroder

SF: Andrew Wiggins

PF: Kyle Anderson

C: Trayce Jackson-Davis

Injury report (as of 9 a.m. ET)

Raptors
Clean injury report and no players on assignment with the 905.

Warriors
Draymond Green (Back) — Questionable
Gary Payton II (Left calf strain) – Out
Brandin Podziemski (Abdominal injury management) — Out
Jonathan Kuminga (Right ankle sprain) – Out

Game Info

Tip-Off: 7:30 p.m. ET 
Television: Sportsnet 
Radio: Sportsnet 590

Lines

*Odds as of Jan. 12, 12:00 am ET*

All Toronto Raptors odds are provided by NBA Betting Site Betway!

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