Toronto Raptors vs. Sacramento Kings: Preview, TV Schedule, Injuries, and More
The Raptors host the Kings for their final matchup of the season.
The Toronto Raptors will try to defend home court tonight when the Sacramento Kings visit for the final matchup between these two clubs this season.
The Raptors have only played one game at home in the past two weeks, hosting Orlando last Friday before taking off to visit them for a home-and-home weekend. Hopefully, returning back to Scotiabank Arena for a two game stretch will lead to better results for the Raptors.
The team has dropped seven straight games for their longest losing streak of the season, and have lost nine of their last 10 games. Things haven’t been going great on and off the court recently, as six Raptors are listed as out for tonight.
In fact, from the last time these teams saw each other on January 5th, only two Raptors that saw the court in that game will even be eligible for the team tonight. Take a guess, I bet you won’t get them right.
Jalen McDaniels and Jontay Porter. Yup, those two are the only Raptors eligible for tonight that have played the Kings this season. Gary Trent Jr. missed the game with an injury, Gradey Dick was still in his special program and the rest are either out, traded away or had not been acquired yet.
The Kings team they’re facing looks nearly identical, just missing Kevin Huerter with a shoulder dislocation. Sacramento is in the middle of a playoff fight, trying to keep the Mavericks and Suns at bay to avoid falling down into the play-in.
While I’d love to say they’re also fighting to move up into the fifth seed, the 2.5 game gap along with how the Pelicans are playing lately makes me think sixth is likely the highest Sacramento can finish.
Either way, this matchup will mean a lot to them as they look to stay in that final play-off spot in the West. The reigning Clutch Player of the Year in De’Aaron Fox may not get to play in any clutch time minutes in this one, with the Kings favoured by 11 points.
A player to watch for the Kings however will be Domantas Sabonis, who’s currently at 50 consecutive double-doubles this season while leading the lead in the category along with rebounds and triple-doubles. He’s only the ninth player to ever accomplish the feat, and would break the record for the longest double-double streak since the NBA/ABA merger if he keeps it up for four more games.
As for the Raptors, look for the youth to get some more shots up, hope to see some improved development from the players that will likely be sticking around for next season and hope it makes for an entertaining watch.
How to Watch:
TSN at 7:30pm ET
Likely Lineups:
Toronto: Bruce Brown, Gary Trent Jr., Gradey Dick, Ochai Agbaji, Kelly Olynyk
Sacramento: De’Aaron Fox, Davion Mitchell, Harrison Barnes, Keegan Murray, Domantas Sabonis
Injuries:
Toronto: Scottie Barnes (out — hand), RJ Barrett (out — personal), Chris Boucher (out — knee), DJ Carton (out — ankle), Jakob Poeltl (out — hand), Immanuel Quickley (out — personal)
Sacramento: Kevin Huerter (out — shoulder), Trey Lyles (out — knee), Sasha Vezenkov (questionable — ankle)