The Toronto Raptors close out what has been a difficult four-game road trip with another short-handed affair. This time, they face the 11-win Detroit Pistons in the hopes of stealing at least one victory on an 0-3 trip thus far. But they’ll have to do it without RJ Barrett, in addition to their already long laundry list of injuries.
Barrett was ruled out on Tuesday due to personal reasons, making him yet another player to be unavailable for Toronto on Wednesday evening. He joins Scottie Barnes (hand), Chris Boucher (knee), D.J. Carton (ankle) and Jakob Poeltl (hand) as those already ruled out. Gary Trent Jr. and Immanuel Quickley are considered questionable.
The Pistons, on the other hand, are in a far better situation on the injury front as they are only without 2023 first-round draft pick Ausar Thompson. At this stage of the season, this game is not one with much significance. However, no player is going to fold on a game, and when both teams have not won in large quantities, any victory can be a fire starter.
The Raptors have already suffered losses to the Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers and Denver Nuggets on this road trip. They put up a relatively strong fight against the Nuggets, losing by only six despite being without so many players. That type of effort could very easily result in a win against the Pistons.
Meanwhile, Detroit is 2-1 in their last three games which has vaulted them above the Washington Wizards — temporarily — for the worst record in the NBA. Wins against the Charlotte Hornets and Brooklyn Nets with a blowout loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the middle gives them their best three-game stretch of the season. And Detroit has already defeated Toronto once this year, when they broke their NBA record 28-game losing streak.
Toronto Raptors (23-42) vs. Detroit Pistons (11-53)
7:00 p.m. ET, Wed., March 13
Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan
TV: Sportsnet
Projected Raptors Starting Lineup:
PG: Immanuel Quickley
SG: Gradey Dick
SF: Gary Trent Jr.
PF: Jordan Nwora
C: Kelly Olynyk
Key Reserves: Ochai Agbaji, Jalen McDaniels, Jontay Porter, Javon Freeman-Liberty
Projected Pistons Starting Lineup:
PG: Cade Cunningham
SG: Jaden Ivey
SF: Simone Fontecchio
PF: Isaiah Stewart
C: Jalen Duren
Key Reserves: James Wiseman, Marcus Sasser, Evan Fournier
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