Gameday: Raptors @ Trail Blazers, January 23

Toronto continues its road trip, reaching game four out of five as they are in Portland tonight before heading to Oklahoma City for their final game. They’ve steered the ship in the right direction after getting blown out in LA to win two in a row. Can they keep the wins going?

Raptors Outlook

Record: 27-19 | 4th in Eastern Conference
Offensive Rating: 114.2 (18th) | Defensive Rating: 112.4 (5th) | Net Rating: +1.9 (12th)

Raptors previous results

@ Kings W 122-109

@ Warriors W 145-127

@ Lakers L 110-93

vs Clippers L 121-117

@ Pacers W 115-101

After a tough blowout loss to the Lakers to begin the road trip, it looked like Toronto could be in for a rough ride the rest of the way as they lost their starting centre at the time, Collin Murray-Boyles, to a thumb contusion. But since then, Toronto has responded big time with a huge blowout in Golden State when they beat their 2019 NBA Finals rivals on the road, albeit without Jimmy Butler, but Immanuel Quickley popped off for a tied career high of 40 points and added 10 assists. He became just the second Raptor in franchise history to record a 40-point, 10-assist game, joining Vince Carter and became just the first player in history to record 40+points, 10+assists, 5+ threes while shooting over 80 percent from the field. Then, recently, a shaky start in Sacramento, but a massive third quarter that saw Toronto win 43 to 21 gave them enough of a cushion to bring home win number 27.

Trail Blazers Outlook

Record: 23-22 | 9th in Western Conference
Offensive Rating: 113.8 (20th) | Defensive Rating: 115.2 (18th) | Net Rating: -1.4 (21st)

Trail Blazers previous results

vs Heat W 127-110

@ Kings W 117-110

vs Lakers W 132-116

vs Hawks W 117-101

@ Warriors L 119-97

The Portland Trail Blazers have impressively gotten back above .500, as back on December 2nd, they were at a record of 8 and 12, heading into their first game with Toronto for the season and actually lost at the Scotiabank Arena 121 to 118. So when I saw them sitting at 23-22 as the 9th seed of the Western Conference, I was quite impressed, as they’ve won four games in a row and are winners of eight out of their last ten games. Their advanced team stats aren’t impressive at all, but they’ve played the Kings, Lakers and Warriors, who the Raptors also recently played and dropped the game to the Warriors back when they had Jimmy Butler, so this should actually be an interesting game. The Portland official injury list isn’t out yet, so we’re going to base the projections and injuries off of last game and theScore app.

Game Info

Tip-Off: 10:00 p.m. ET

Television: TSN

Radio: Sportsnet 590

Venue: Moda Center

Starting Lineups (Projected)

Portland Trail Blazers

PG: Jrue Holiday

SG: Shaedon Sharpe

SF: Toumani Camara

PF: Deni Avdija

C: Donovan Clingan

Toronto Raptors

PG: Jamal Shead

SG: Immanuel Quickley

SF: Brandon Ingram

PF: Scottie Barnes

C: Sandro Mamukelashvili

Injury Report

Toronto Raptors

Jakob Poeltl (Lower Back Strain) – Out

RJ Barrett (Left Ankle Sprain) – Questionable

Chucky Hepburn (G-League Assignment) – Out

Collin Murray-Boyles (Left Thumb Contusion) – Questionable

Ja’Kobe Walter (Right Hip Pointer) – Out

Portland Trail Blazers

Damian Lillard (Left Achilles Tendon) – Out

Blake Wesley (Right Foot Fracture) – Out

Matisse Thybulle (Right Knee Tendinopathy) – Out

Kris Murray (Lumbar Strain) – Questionable

Scoot Henderson (Left Hamstring Tear) – Questionable

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