The Toronto Raptors come into Wednesday night riding an 11-game losing streak. There is a likely chance this carries over against the top-four seed New York Knicks at Scotiabank Arena.
Toronto is simply too shorthanded heading into tonight’s matchup, as they are 13.5 underdogs against the Knicks. The Raptors remain without Scottie Barnes (hand), Jakob Poeltl (hand), Chris Boucher (knee), Immanuel Quickley (conditioning) and RJ Barrett (conditioning). Also, Jontay Porter is out due to an on-going gambling investigation.
This means that Gary Trent Jr. and Gradey Dick will continue to try and carry the offense once again. Toronto is coming off a 5-for-27 shooting performance from three-point range. Hitting from distance will be key to make the Knicks work for this win.
However, what it is all about is the development of the younger guys on the roster, like Ochai Agbaji, Javon Freeman-Liberty, Jordan Nwora and Kobi Simmons. When embracing a rebuild, head coach Darko Rajakovic has to evaluate the talent on the roster and make some decisions heading into next season.
For New York, they are receiving some reinforcements after being hindered by injuries for several weeks. Mitchell Robinson (knee) is making a return to the lineup, when he was predicted to miss the rest of the season.
Still, the show runs through All-Star guard Jalen Brunson, but Donte DiVincenzo is coming off a 40-point, 11 three-pointers performance against the Detroit Pistons on Monday. Toronto will have to key in on those two, but that could prove to be a tough task lacking the defensive personnel.
Winning is not at the forefront right now for the Raptors as the organization looks to lock in the No. 6 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. Looking at the remaining schedule, there may not be a whole lot of wins left.
New York Knicks (43-28) vs. Toronto Raptors (23-49)
7:30 p.m. EST, Wednesday, March 27, 2024
Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario
TV: Sportsnet
Projected Knicks Starting Lineup:
PG: Jalen Brunson
SG: Miles McBride
SF: Donte DiVincenzo
PF: Josh Hart
C: Mitchell Robinson
Key Reserves: Precious Achiuwa, Bojan Bogdanovic, Isaiah Hartenstein
Projected Raptors Starting Lineup:
PG: Gary Trent Jr.
SG: Gradey Dick
SF: Javon Freeman-Liberty
PF: Ochai Agbaji
C: Kelly Olynyk
Key Reserves: Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora, Kobi Simmons, Garrett Temple
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