The streaking Raptors
The Toronto Raptors are coming in hot on offense and defense. They are 14-4, second in the Eastern Conference standings, and winners of six straight games with an average winning margin of 15.8 points. In that span, opponents are also scoring just 97.7 points per game.
Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet are continuing to pick up where they left off the 2019 NBA finals, with the former averaging career and team-highs 25.1 points and 8.6 rebounds and the latter having his best season as a pro through 18.5 points and team-highs 7.3 assists and 2.1 steals per game.
It’s also looking brighter now that All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry is close to returning. He has missed the team’s last 10 games due to a fractured left thumb and was putting up 24 points and 6.7 assists before getting hurt. Lowry is one of two key Raptors that has been sidelined in the past three weeks; the other is their interior defense specialist Serge Ibaka, who also got upgraded to day-to-day.
In Lowry and Ibaka’s absence, plenty of guys stepped up, mostly from the bench mob. OG Anunoby, Chris Boucher, and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson combined for a handful of double-doubles while Norman Powell just got done dropping a career-high 33 points.
The Raptors are 8-0 at home this season and they also won both match-ups with the Utah Jazz this past year.
On-and-off stretch
The Utah Jazz opened the season by winning eight of 11 games but have only gone 4-4 since. They currently stand in the middle of the Western Conference standings holding a 12-7 card.
The constant aspect in the team’s approach, however, is still present. Their scoring defense is still in the top seven (103.9 PAPG) and they also rank first in assists allowed and fourth in opponent field goal shooting.
As one of the most explosive weapons today, we should continue seeing Donovan Mitchell do what he does best. He’s posting 25.3 points per game and should be in an interesting battle with the Raptors defense.
One of his co-starters, Jazz off-season acquisition Bojan Bogdanovic, will be right there with him. The 30-year-old has been pouring it on offense, as he is at 22.1 PPG on the year and building off confidence through his back-to-back nights of scoring 30 or more.
Rudy Gobert remains as the disruptor inside the paint. He’s had 12 consecutive double-doubles, averaging 14.3 points, 15.8 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks in that span.
PREDICTION:
The Raptors stay perfect at home with a 104-98 win. Toronto’s wing defense puts Donovan Mitchell off his game, preventing him from hitting over 23.5 points.
