Gameday: Rockets @ Raptors, October 29

After a dominant opening night win against the Atlanta Hawks, the Toronto Raptors have failed to get a second win, losing three straight games as they look to rebound against the Houston Rockets at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday night.

The last three games have not been pretty for Canada’s team, with Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks, Anthony Davis and the Dallas Mavericks and Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs all grabbing wins over Toronto.

There have been a couple of themes that have emerged four games into the season for the Raptors, and they haven’t been good ones. Halloween is right around the corner, but the only scary thing has been the play of Toronto’s starters and defence.

The defence has been all over the place, checking in with the 22nd-worst defensive rating. Senseless, unconnected pressure and doubles are being thrown at ball handlers and actions, creating major gaps all around the court. The team wants to play aggressively with high pick-up points, but might not have the ability to do so.

As for the starters, in 52 minutes together, the lineup of Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Scottie Barnes, Brandon Ingram, and Jakob Poeltl has been losing their minutes, posting a -23 plus/minus and a -18 NET rating.

The starting group will more than likely not get a chance to improve these numbers, however, as big man Poeltl is listed as doubtful for Wednesday’s game due to lower back tightness. The 30-year-old has been battling a bad back since the start of training camp, and had to exit in the fourth quarter because of the issue Monday night against the Mavericks.

Poeltl has played a combined 92 minutes through the team’s first four games, including 24 against the Spurs on Monday. To start the year, the 30-year-old is averaging 8.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and a whopping 5.3 personal fouls per game. The Austrian is also shooting 75.0 per cent from the field (13-of-22), and is yet to make a free throw (0-5) through four contests.

That means someone new is going to have to make their first start, and with going up against a tall Rockets lineup, two front-court players have had positive moments this season. Collin Murray-Boyles and Sandro Mamukelashvili have arguably been the two best players off the Raptors’ bench, as the latter is actually featured in the two best lineups for Toronto.

Murray-Boyles, on the other hand, is coming off a fantastic second career game against the Mavericks, where the 20-year-old finished with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting (3-of-5 from three), three rebounds, three steals, and a block.

Toronto will be going up against another big lineup, as the Rockets are gigantic. If Murray-Boyles starts, for example, the tallest player in the Raptors’ starting lineup would be 6-foot-8 Scottie Barnes (who is off to a solid individual start of his own). And for Houston, their smallest player and point guard, Amen Thompson, is 6-foot-7. Toronto’s biggest player would be one inch taller then Houston’s smallest, insane.

Once upon a time, the Rockets’ biggest acquisition this offseason, Kevin Durant, was rumoured to the Raptors. Now, he’s in Houston, and he’s been nothing but great.

The 37-year-old leads the team in scoring with 26.3 points, to go along with 6.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. He’s joined by the 23-year-old Alperen Sengun and the 22-year-old Thompson, who both have made leaps and will showcase it all at Scotiabank.

Game Info

Tip-Off: 6:30 p.m. ET

Television: TSN

Venue: Scotiabank Arena

Starting Lineups (Projected)

Houston Rockets

PG: Amen Thompson

SG: Kevin Durant

SF: Jabari Smith Jr.

PF: Alperen Sengun

C: Steven Adams

Toronto Raptors

PG: Immanuel Quickley

SG: RJ Barrett

SF: Brandon Ingram

PF: Scottie Barnes

C: Sando Mamukelashvili

Injury Report

Toronto Raptors

Jakob Poeltl (Lower back tightness) – Doubtful

A.J. Lawson (two-way) – Out

Chucky Hepburn (two-way) – Out

Alijah Martin (two-way) – Out

Houston Rockets

Fred VanVleet (ACL) – Out

Dorian Finney-Smith (Ankle) – Out

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