The Toronto Raptors continue their road trip with a date against Fred VanVleet and the Houston Rockets.
This will be the first time VanVleet goes up against his former team since leaving Toronto to sign with Houston this past summer.
VanVleet’s scoring is down a bit, but he has been hitting his three-pointers at 37.3 percent and averaging a career-high 8.4 assists per game. This is VanVleet’s chance to show up in a big way against his former team.
The Raptors may be getting some starters back soon as Immanuel Quickley and Jakob Poeltl both practiced in full on Feb. 1. However, for this game Poeltl, Quickley and RJ Barrett are all questionable. Jontay Porter has been ruled out.
Therefore, the Raptors will be very thin with their frontcourt, which will not serve well going up against Alperen Sengun.
That is if Sengun ends up playing. Currently the Rockets big man is questionable and Tari Eason is out.
This will be an opportunity for Scottie Barnes to continue to be at the forefront of Toronto’s development. With so many players out for the Raptors, Barnes has had to extract more energy on the defensive end, which has led to his inconsistent play on offense.
Hopefully Barnes can get it going on offense for all four quarter in this one and gets his three-point shot back on track.
Expect guys like Gradey Dick and Jordan Nwora who is coming off two excellent back-to-back games to continue to get more minutes in the rotation.
Toronto Raptors (17-30) vs. Houston Rockets (22-25)
8:00 p.m. ET, Friday, February 2, 2024
Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
TV: Sportsnet
Projected Raptors Starting Lineup:
PG: Dennis Schroder
SG: Gary Trent Jr.
SF: Bruce Brown
PF: Scottie Barnes
C: Thaddeus Young
Key Reserves: Gradey Dick, Jordan Nwora, Chris Boucher
Projected Rockets Starting Lineup:
PG: Fred VanVleet
SG: Jalen Green
SF: Dillon Brooks
PF: Jabari Smith Jr.
C: Alperen Sengun
Key Reserves: Cam Whitmore, Amen Thompson, Aaron Holiday
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