This Friday, the (11-10) Toronto Raptors will travel to Brooklyn, NY to take on the (12-11) Brooklyn Nets. Tipoff will be at 7:30 PM EST inside the Barclays Center. These two teams have already played twice this season, but the Nets walked away from their last game with a 112-98 win.
The Toronto Raptors are coming into this one after losing to the New Orleans Pelicans, 126-108. The Raptors struggled on the defensive end of the court, as they allowed the Pelicans to shoot 52.3% from the field. They have to contest more shots and apply more pressure if they want to avoid dropping their second game in a row.
The Brooklyn Nets are entering this matchup after defeating the Washington Wizards 113-107. This was the Nets' fourth win in their last five games, as they will have to stay consistent on both ends of the floor if they want to protect their home court against the Raptors.
This game was written/published before last night's results.
The Toronto Raptors are currently in seventh place in the Eastern Conference standings, as they trail the first-place Celtics by 6.5 games. On offense, Toronto is scoring 110.7 points per game and they have shot 44.6% from the floor. This is the 19th most points scored per contest and the fourth-lowest team shooting percentage in the league. According to dunksandthrees.com, the Raptors have an adjusted offensive rating of 112.8, which is the 13th-highest rating in the NBA. O.G. Anunoby has continued to lead the way on the offensive end, as he is scoring 18.7 points per game and shooting 47.1% from the field. Toronto has had to continue attacking the paint, as they have struggled to shoot from deep this season. They have only knocked down 33.1% of their shots from behind the arc, as this is the 25th-highest three-point shooting percentage in the league. They have also struggled at the charity stripe, as they continue to leave points on the c ourt. Toronto has only made 78.1% of their shots at the line, which is the 18th-lowest team free-throw shooting percentage in the NBA.
On the defensive end of the court, the Raptors are allowing 109.3 points per game and their opponents have shot 48.1% from the floor. This is the 25th-highest shooting percentage allowed from the field, but the seventh-least amount of points given up per game. According to dunksandthrees.com, the Raptors have an adjusted defensive rating of 111.3, which is the 11th-lowest rating in the NBA. They have shown that they will contest shots near the rim and they have also applied pressure and contested shots from behind the arc. They are only allowing their opponents to shoot 35.2% from three, which is the 11th-lowest three-point shooting percentage allowed. Toronto is also snatching 43.7 rebounds per game, which is the 13th most in the league. They have to secure the ball after missed shots if they want to keep the Nets from scoring second-chance points.
Injury Report: Precious Achiuwa PF (Ankle) and Otto Porter Jr. SF (Toe) are both listed as out.
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