Gameday: Nets @ Raptors January 1
Goodbye to 2024 and hello to a brand new year. Toronto will kick off 2025 at home against Brooklyn. The Nets are coming in with a losing streak of two games which is no match to Toronto’s 11-game slide.
These two division foes were playoff competitors once upon a time in the classic 2014 series as well as the NBA bubble season. Those glory days are well behind the two sides as they are now competing for a chance to draft Cooper Flagg in the upcoming draft.
Brooklyn has made two seasons already and has made their intentions clear despite being just two games back from a playing spot. They shipped former Raptor guard Dennis Schroder earlier in the month to the Warriors for a few picks and did the same with veteran Dorian Finney Smith more recently. The Nets have a few impressive team stats as of December 31st, they rank 6th in 3-pointers made with 14.7 and are shooting 37.3 beyond the arc which is tied for 7th best across the NBA. They also rank 2nd in the NBA for free throw percentage at 80.8.
The last time these two teams met earlier in December, Toronto led comfortably for most of the game and crumbled in the last few minutes. Cameron Johnson led the way with 33 points for them that night, and expect the same as he should be healthy and playing tomorrow night. Nic Claxton had a bizarre ejection that night too so he should be playing more than 10 minutes in this upcoming contest. Toronto are lucky as Cam Thomas will be out Wednesday due to injury management and we all know how difficult he can be to handle once he gets going on the offensive end.
Game Info
Tip-Off: 7:30 PM ET
Television: TSN
Radio: Sportsnet 590
Starting Lineups (Projected)
Brooklyn Nets
PG: Ben Simmons
SG: Keon Johnson
SF: Cameron Johnson
PF: Noah Clowney
C: Nic Claxton
Toronto Raptors
PG: Davion Mitchell
SG: Ja’Kobe Walter (questionable)
SF: Scottie Barnes
PF: Ochai Agbaji
C: Jakob Poeltl
Injury Report
Brooklyn Nets
Like I said earlier the Raptors dodge a bullet with Cam Thomas being out. The two others who will be joining him are either new to the team or not a big part of the rotation so Thomas, so far is the only name that matters.
Bojan Bogdanovic (Left foot) – Out
Jaylen Martin (Two-Way) – Out
De’Anthony Melton (Left knee) – Out
Cam Thomas (Left hamstring) – Out
Trendon Watford (Left hamstring) – Out
Dariq Whitehead (G-League) – Out
Ziaire Williams (Left knee) – Questionable
Toronto Raptors
The Raptors injury list is finally out and surprisingly not as big as it usually is. Bruce Brown is the only one confirmed to be out right now. Quickley’s upgraded to questionable for the first time!
Update: Ja’Kobe Walter is now questionable as well with a finger sprain.
RJ Barrett (Illness) – Questionable
Bruce Brown (Right knee) – Out
Gradey Dick (Right hamstring) – Questionable
Immanuel Quickley (Left elbow) – Questionable
Lines
| Team | Spread | Moneyline | Total |
| Brooklyn Nets | -1.5 (+200) | 1.90 | O 221.5 (1.95) |
| Toronto Raptors | +1.5 (1.83) | 1.90 | U 221.5 (1.87) |
All Toronto Raptors odds are provided by NBA Betting Site Betway!
Presented by Betway
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