The Toronto Raptors could be extremely shorthanded against the Denver Nuggets tonight.
Toronto currently has more than half of their roster (8 of 15 players) on the injury report.
Scottie Barnes (hand), Jakob Poeltl (hand), Immanuel Quickley (hip), Gary Trent Jr. (groin), Chris Boucher (knee) and DJ Carton (ankle) are all out.
Bruce Brown Jr. (knee) is questionable and RJ Barrett (illness) is probable.
That means the Raptors are going to be in tough against the defending champions Nuggets who will have all of their top players ready to go. Vlatko Cancar (knee) is out and DeAndre Jordan (illness) is questionable.
The Raptors are starting to lose a bunch of games as a result of all of their injuries piling up. They have lost 3 in a row and 5 of their last 6.
With the Raptors severely shorthanded this will give ample opportunities to the young players on this team like Ochai Agbaji and Gradey Dick who should both see extended minutes.
Javon Freeman-Liberty and Jordan Nwora will also see a lot of action.
Kelly Olynyk will have his hands full being the primary defender on Nikola Jokic.
Jokic and the Nuggets are starting to hit another gear as they are gunning for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. The Nuggets have lost only once since the All-Star break.
Meanwhile, the Raptors could be gunning for the 6th worst record in the league which would give them a 45 percent chance of keeping their 2024 first-round pick. They are currently 1.5 games up on the Memphis Grizzlies in the overall NBA standings.
Toronto Raptors (23-41) vs. Denver Nuggets (44-20)
9:00 p.m. ET, Monday, March 11, 2024
Ball Arena, Denver, Colorado
TV: Sportsnet
Projected Raptors Starting Lineup:
PG: Javon Freeman-Liberty
SG: Gradey Dick
SF: RJ Barrett
PF: Jordan Nwora
C: Kelly Olynyk
Key Reserves: Ochai Agbaji, Jalen McDaniels, Jontay Porter
Projected Nuggets Starting Lineup:
PG: Jamal Murray
SG: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
SF: Michael Porter Jr.
PF: Aaron Gordon
C: Nikola Jokic
Key Reserves: Peyton Watson, Justin Holiday, Christian Braun
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