Gameday: Magic @ Raptors, January 3
After snapping their 11-game losing streak with a spirited win over the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday, the Toronto Raptors are well positioned to carry that momentum into a home game against the Orlando Magic on Friday. It will be the first of four meetings between the two teams this season.
The Magic have had some difficultly lately while dealing with injuries to their two best players – Paolo Banchero and Franz Wanger – along with three other rotation pieces. They have lost six of their last 10 games, albeit to strong competition.
The Raptors on the other hand are finally getting healthy, and Friday night marks the first opportunity the team has had this season for their projected starting lineup to actually start the game and play together. It all depends on the health of RJ Barrett, who has missed the Raptors’ last two games – and four of their last seven – with a lingering illness.
Both Orlando and Toronto have really bad halfcourt offences, and just really bad offences in general. The defensive side of the ball is where the Magic have a big advantage, they are one of the best in the league and it has propelled them to fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
Raptors Outlook: 8-26 | 13th in Eastern Conference | Off rating: 109.6 (24th) | Def rating: 116.9 (26th) | Net rating: -7.2 (26th)
Raptors Previous Results
vs Brooklyn W 130-113
@ Boston L 125-71
vs Atlanta L 136-107
@ Grizzlies L 155-126
@ Knicks L 139-125
Immanuel Quickley’s return on Wednesday caused a notable change in the Raptors offence. The dynamic guard added an element of both shooting and live-dribble work that we hadn’t really seen yet this season. Quickley and the new look Toronto offence will immediately be tested against the Magic’s third ranked defence.
The six-foot three guard’s pull-up shooting alone has a ripple effect on the offence. Defences have to pick up higher. Opposing defenders don’t have the option to go under screens. Gradey Dick will now have less responsibility to take difficult, above-the-break shots and will have more space when he does due to Quickley’s shooting gravity helping to spread defences thin. Dick will also end up in the corner more, where he was scorching last season (48.5 percent, second among all rookies with minimum 50 attempts).
Barnes will cede some ball-handling and guard responsibilities to Quickley, allowing the six-foot-eight jack of all trades to do more forward stuff. Working to gain position and posting up, cutting, and running in transition are all things that Barnes’ combination of strength and athleticism lend well to.
The Raptors rank first in the league in the percentage of their points that come in the paint. They will need to be effective here in order to stay in the win column, and that will start with Quickley’s gravity opening up space for Barnes and company to operate in and around the paint.
Magic Outlook: 20-15 | 4th in Eastern Conference | Off rating: 108.6 (26th) | Def rating: 106.3 (3rd) | Net rating: 2.3 (9th)
Magic Previous Results
@ Detroit L 105-96
vs Brooklyn W 102-101
vs New York L 108-85
vs Miami L 89-88
vs Boston W 108-104
The Magic are one of the leagues best transition defences, despite allowing opponents to get out and run at a bottom-10 rate. They also do a great job at limiting the number of 3s opposing teams take. This is important as teams have much more control over the amount of 3s the opposition takes than the amount they make.
One chink in Orlando’s defensive armour may play into the Raptors greatest offensive strength. The Magic do a great job at forcing teams into the middle of the floor, but also allow them to get to the rim at a roughly league average clip. Their rim defence is also 11th in league, which is good, but not great like the rest of their defence.
Jalen Suggs and rookie Tristan da Silva have both seen their roles expand in the absence of Wagner and Banchero. Suggs is averaging 20 points on 17.2 FGA over the last 10 games, up from his season averages of 16.8 on 14.1 FGA. Da Silva is up to 11.8 points on 10 FGA from 8.5 on 7.7 FGA over the same stretch.
Game Info
Tip-Off: 7:30 p.m. ET
Television: TSN
Radio: TSN Radio 1050
Starting Lineups (Projected)
Orlando Magic
PG: Jalen Suggs
SG: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
SF: Tristan da Silva
PF: Wendell Carter Jr.
C: Goga Bitadze
Toronto Raptors
PG: Immanuel Quickley
SG: Gradey Dick
SF: Ochai Agbaji
PF: Scottie Barnes
C: Jakob Poeltl
Injury Report
Magic
Trevelin Queen (Illness) – Probable
Anthony Black (Back) – Out
Gary Harris (Hamstring) – Out
Franz Wagner (Oblique) – Out
Paolo Banchero (Oblique) – Out
Moritz Wagner (Torn ACL) – Out
Raptors
RJ Barrett (Illness) – Questionable
Lines
| Team | Spread | Money | Total |
| Orlando Magic | +1.5 | 1.8 | O 216.5 |
| Toronto Raptors | -1.5 | 2.1 | U 216.5 |
*Odds as of Jan 2, 12:00 am ET*
All Toronto Raptors odds are provided by NBA Betting Site Betway!
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