The Toronto Raptors will look to avoid making some undesirable history on Wednesday.
The Raptors take on the Pelicans in New Orleans having lost their first ten games away from Scotiabank Arena. Lose this one and they set a new franchise record for consecutive road losses to start a season, topping their streak from 1997-98.
On the other side, New Orleans has been having a similarly injury-marred season to Toronto. In fact, the Raptors and Pelicans have been the two most injured teams in the league, per sportrac.
Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum, Dejounte Murray, Trey Murphy III, Herb Jones, and Jose Alvarado have missed a combined 73 games (an average of 10.1 each).
Toronto has been less affected by injury than New Orleans. Both teams have lost the same number of total games to injury, but the Pelicans starters have missed 52 games, while the Raptors projected starting five has missed 30.
However, New Orleans is starting to get some of their guys back. McCollum returned on Monday against the Pacers and scored 23 and Murray is slated to return on Wednesday after missing all 17 games since the Pelicans’ opener with a fractured left hand.
Another similarity between the two teams is their records; both are 4-14. The difference being that Toronto was expected to be a losing team (30.5 O/U) and their front office openly declared a rebuild. New Orleans on the other hand was expected to be competitive (46.5 O/U).
(Over-under lines via Bet365)
Also, after the Raptors 102-100 loss to the Pistons on Monday, they are now 2-8 in games decided by two possessions or less. Yeesh.
Raptors Outlook: 4-14 | 13th in Eastern Conference | Off rating: 111.1 (20th) | Def rating: 116.4 (24th) | Net rating: -5.3 (24th)
Raptors’ Previous Results
@ Detroit L 102-100
@ Cleveland L 122-108
vs Minnesota W 110-105
vs Indiana W 130-119
@ Boston L 126-123 OT
In Monday’s game preview, I wrote that the Raptors were “slowly beginning to heal.” I spoke too soon. Gradey Dick came up limping in the fourth quarter against the Pistons, and has now been listed on the injury report with a right calf contusion. Darko Rajakovic said on Monday that the injury may keep him out for the remainder of the road-trip.
I promise to never include that kind of wishful thinking in my writing again.
Without Dick, the Raptors have almost no shooting. The closest thing they have to a shooter is Jamison Battle, who has been good, but is still relatively unproven as an undrafted rookie 17 games into his NBA career. Toronto has used the six-foot-seven wing in some of the actions where they usually use Dick, including using Battle as the back-screener in Spain Leak. So, watch out for that in this game.
The Raptors will need to shoot from the outside at least a little bit to stand a chance. Scottie Barnes having another run where he cans a triple on three straight possessions would help.
On defence, Toronto needs to limit the Pelicans’ ball-handlers ability to get downhill on secondary actions and close-outs. The more they are able to keep McCollum and Murray in front, the better.
Pelicans Outlook: 4-14 | 15th in Western Conference | Off rating: 106.8 (27th) | Def rating: 118.3 (28th) | Net rating: -11.4 (29th)
Pelicans’ Previous Results
@ Indiana L 114-110
vs Golden State L 112-108
@ Cleveland L 128-100
@ Dallas L 132-91
vs Los Angeles Lakers L 104-99
With so much lineup volatility due to the injuries, it’s hard to know who these Pelicans really are.
Similar to the Raptors, they’ve grabbed a ton of offensive rebounds (7th in offensive rebounding percentage at 30.8 percent, per Cleaning the Glass), but also allow the third highest offensive rebounding percentage (31 percent) to opponents. The Raptors are first in offensive rebounding percentage at a massive 35.3 percent, and are 24th in opponents offensive rebounding percentage. So basically, expect to see A LOT of second chance opportunities.
New Orleans also doesn’t shoot very many 3s, and has the second worst halfcourt offence in the league. This could be another grind it out game full of hard drives to the hoop and glass-crashing.
Rookie centre Yves Missi has been an X factor for the Pelicans off the bench, racking up blocks, boards, and putbacks with athleticism that is impressive for a seven-footer.
Game Info
Tip-Off: 8:00 p.m. ET
Television: TSN
Radio: TSN 1050
Starting Lineups (Projected)
New Orleans Pelicans
PG: Dejounte Murray
SG: CJ McCollum
SF: Javonte Green
PF: Brandon Boston Jr.
C: Daniel Theis
Toronto Raptors
PG: Davion Mitchell
SG: RJ Barrett
SF: Ochai Agbaji
PF: Scottie Barnes
C: Jakob Poeltl
Injury Report
Pelicans
Dejounte Murray (Hand) – Probable
Brandon Ingram (Calf) – Questionable
Trey Murphy III (Knee) – Questionable
Jordan Hawkins (Back) – Questionable
Zion Williamson (Hamstring) – Out
Herbert Jones (Shoulder) – Out
Jose Alvarado (Hamstring) – Out
Raptors
Gradey Dick (Calf strain) – Out
Bruce Brown Jr. (Knee) – Out
Immanuel Quickley (Elbow) – Out
D.J. Carton (Ankle) – Out
Kelly Olynyk (Back) – Out
The post Gameday: Raptors @ Pelicans, November 27 first appeared on Raptors Republic.
