Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas – Wildcard Edition
This Monday, the (19-24) Toronto Raptors will travel to New York, NY to take on the (24-19) New York Knicks. Tipoff will be at 3:00 PM EST inside Madison Square Garden. This will be the third time that these two teams have matched up this season, as the Knicks won the last matchup, 112-108.
The Toronto Raptors are coming into this one after falling to the Atlanta Hawks, 114-103. They struggled on both ends of the court, as they will have to be more efficient in this one if they want to challenge the Knicks on the road.
The New York Knicks are entering this game after defeating the Washington Wizards, 112-108. They locked up the Wizards near the end of that game, as they will need to continue applying pressure consistently if they want to take care of business at home.
This game was written/published before last night's results.
The Toronto Raptors are currently in 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings, as they trail the first-place Boston Celtics by 12.5 games. On offense, they are scoring 111.8 points per game and they have shot 44.9% from the field. This is the 24th most points scored per contest and the second-lowest team shooting percentage. According to dunksandthrees.com, the Raptors have an adjusted offensive rating of 113.8, which is the 14th-highest offensive rating in the NBA. Pascal Siakam continues to lead the way on the offensive end of the court, as he is scoring 25.7 points per game on 47.8% shooting from the floor. Toronto has also shown that they have more success when they attack the basket. They are only shooting 32.9% from behind the arc, which is the second-lowest three-point shooting percentage in the league. Luckily, they have taken advantage of their opportunities at the charity stripe. Toronto has made 79.6% of their shots at the line, which is the 10th-highest free-throw shooting percentage.
On the defensive end of the floor, the Raptors have been tough to consistently beat. They are allowing their opponents to score 111.5 points per game and they have only shot 48.9% from the floor. This s the eighth least amount of points surrendered per game and the third-highest shooting percentage allowed from the floor. According to dunksandthrees.com, the Raptors have an adjusted defensive rating of 113.8, which is the 19th lowest rating in the NBA. They have struggled to consistently contest shots near the rim and on the perimeter, as their opponents have shot 36.7% from deep, which is the 27th-highest three-point shooting percentage allowed. The Raptors are also snatching 42,4 rebounds per game, which is the 22nd most. They will have to crash the defensive glass if they want to keep the Knicks from scoring second-chance points.
Injury Report: Otto Porter Jr. SF (Toe) is out.
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