Toronto Raptors vs. Washington Wizards Matchup: It can’t get worse than Thursday, right?
Please do better today. Please do better today. Please do better today.
The Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards play again today, and again the fate of the play-in tournament hangs in the balance!
OK, nothing really is hanging in the balance. But maybe if I write about it with some urgency, the Raptors will start to play with some?
That seems as unlikely as the Raptors making a run at the sixth seed, though. Sure, it’s technically still in reach. And it’s not like the teams between ninth (where the Raptors sit) and sixth (currently held by the post-Durant, post-Irving Brooklyn Nets) are playing good basketball. The Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks, and the Nets are a combined 12-18 in their past 10 games!
But the Raptors aren’t playing like a team that sees the opportunity in front of them. They’re playing like they’re playing out the string of a lost season. They’ve had two chances in the past week to even their record at .500, and dropped both games in embarrassing fashion. Sure, the loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers last Sunday wasn’t a huge surprise — the Cavs are good, the Raptors are, well, not good — but they didn’t show up in that game at all.
And the loss to the Wizards on Thursday was even more inexcusable, because the Wizards are a bad team who didn’t even play particularly well in that game! And because they’re directly competing with the Wizards for seeding!
Yeah, I’m still annoyed with that game, if you can’t tell. I’m begging the Raptors to show up tonight and prove to me that they actually give a shit about this season.
Lineup-wise, things look the same as they did on Thursday, so there are no surprises on either side. Let’s hope the Raptors have made some adjustments and can give us a win today.
Where to watch:
TSN, 5:00PM ET
Starting Lineups:
Toronto Raptors — Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby, Scottie Barnes, Pascal Siakam, Jakob Poeltl
Washington Wizards — Delon Wright, Bradley Beal, Kyle Kuzma, Kristaps Porzingis, Daniel Gafford
Injuries
Toronto Raptors — Otto Porter Jr. (foot – out)
Washington Wizards — Monte Morris (back – out)