Toronto Raptors vs. Charlotte Hornets: Another road trip, another opportunity for a win

Can the bench come up big for Toronto as injuries continue to plague the team?

The Toronto Raptors will play their second away game of the season against The Charlotte Hornets, in a matchup that will hopefully serve as an opportunity to return to the win column. The Hornets boast a bit of a rest advantage, having played their last game four days ago, also at home.

To add to the list of injuries, Scottie Barnes is now listed as out after suffering a forearm to the eye in the final moments of their matchup against Denver on Monday. They’ll have to play shorthanded, but so far the bench unit has been phenomenal, so hopefully that trend continues tonight.

On Wednesday afternoon, Scottie’s condition was updated to reflect his diagnosis of a right orbital fracture. Based on the timeline of recovery (3 weeks) it is presumed he may receive surgery for the injury.

The Hornets currently hold a 1-2 record, with their lone victory coming in their season opener against Houston. So far, LaMelo Ball has been leading the charge with two performances approaching triple doubles already on the season. While they wait for Brandon Miller to return from injury, Tre Mann has been a massive support coming off the bench. The Hornets are currently second in the league for rebounds per game, having an aggressive paint presence at both ends.

Likely Lineups

Toronto: Jakob Poeltl, Gradey Dick, Davion Mitchell, Ochai Agbaji, RJ Barrett

Charlotte: LaMelo Ball, Nick Richardson, Cody Martin, Seth Curry, Miles Bridges

Injuries

Toronto: Scottie Barnes (Out: Right Orbital Fracture), Bruce Brown (Out: Right Knee Procedure), D.J. Carton (Out: G League - Two-Way), Ulrich Chomche (Out G League - Two-Way), Kelly Olynyk (Out: Back strain) Immanuel Quickley (Doubtful: Right Pelvic Contusion), Ja’Kobe Walter (Out: G League - On Assignment)

Charlotte: DaQuan Jeffries (Out: Right Hand Fracture), Brandon Miller (Out: Left Glute Strain), Mark Williams (Out: Left Foot Tendon Strain).

How to Watch:

Tune into SportsNet at 7:00 pm ET.

What to Watch for:

• With Scottie out, scoring will fall into the hands of whoever can get a hot hand. With the return of RJ Barrett to the lineup, most of the scoring load will fall on him. He should be up for the challenge though, especially when you consider his performance in the preseason prior to injury, and his work with Team Canada this summer. Also look for Gradey Dick to take on some of it, especially with his career high performance against the Timberwolves. He’s shown the ability to score at all three levels and hopefully it will be similar to last season where his shooting improves as the season goes on.
• Davion Mitchell and Jamal Shead have both been huge defensively, and with LaMelo averaging over 30 points a game, it will be interesting to see if they’re able to slow him down a bit. Davion helped hold Tyrese Maxey to his worst shooting night of the season, so hopefully we can see a repeat of that in this case.
• Charlotte is very dominant in the paint, especially on rebounds. Jakob Poeltl will have to continue to be aggressive to protect the paint for Toronto and prevent too many second chance opportunities for the Hornets. After a career-high performance on Monday grabbing 19 boards, he’s got momentum on his side.

To get some feel-good wins this season, Toronto will have to dispatch other teams under 0.500. Charlotte is projected to be well under that mark, so hopefully they can get another one tonight.