Gameday: Suns vs Raptors, November 29
Toronto is 1-2 on the second night of back-to-backs so far this season. The Raptors have dropped two straight, so naturally in comes a red-hot Suns team riding a seven game winning streak.
At least the In-Season Tournament implications are over!
(I completely forgot to mention that in the Nets preview yesterday)
Scheduling note: The Raptors now have games against Miami on December 6 and at Charlotte on Dec 8. There was originally a gap from Dec 2-10, pending the In-Season Tournament group stage results.
Suns scope: 11-6, 4th in West | Offensive Rating: 6th (118.0) | Defensive Rating: 18th (113.8)
Phoenix is amongst the elite in the West despite their big three of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal yet to play in a single game together. At some point you have to wonder how the Suns will develop any chemistry for the playoffs if that trend continues. However they have rebounded nicely from a 4-6 start.
Booker has elevated his game even further this season, posting career highs nearly across the board. He’s flirting with a 50/40/90 campaign (49.7/43.5/91.8). Booker had never shot better than 38 percent from three in his previous seasons. Kevin Durant has missed the last two games but Booker has kept the Suns afloat with 40 points at Memphis and the game winner in New York.
Along with Booker, Eric Gordon (40.4), Grayson Allen (47.5) and Durant (52.2!!) are also shooting 40 percent or better from three. Durant’s league leading rate in particular is nuts, considering his shot difficulty. As a team, only Oklahoma City ranks better.
Raptors scope: 8-10, 11th in East | Offensive Rating: 24th (111.2) | Defensive Rating: 13th (112.2)
The Raptors had chance to beat a Brooklyn team missing some key players but shot under 40 percent from the field. Pascal Siakam, Scottie Barnes, O.G. Anunoby and Dennis Schroder were a combined 20-64.
Definitely one of those games where the big picture is looked at (aka. what’s the long term plan?).
Free throw shooting needs to be addressed. The Raptors have shot under 75 percent from the line in three straight games. Just throwing away charity points.
Precious Achiuwa had one point against Brooklyn. Eventually the Raptors need to see consistent play from Precious, like he was doing in the second half of the 2021-22 season. That couldn’t all be an anomaly.
Game Info
Tip-Off: 7:30pm EST | TV: TSN 1/3/4/5/4K | Radio: TSN Radio 1050
Suns Lineup
Bradley Beal (back), Damion Lee (knee) and Nassir Little (personal reasons) are out. Beal is still about a week away from being re-evaluated. Kevin Durant (foot) and Grayson Allen (illness) are questionable. Neither played against the Knicks on Sunday.
PG: Devin Booker, Jordan Goodwin
SG: Grayson Allen, Eric Gordon
SF: Josh Okogie, Keita Bates-Diop
PF: Kevin Durant, Yuta Watanabe, Bol Bol
C: Jusuf Nurkic, Drew Eubanks, Chimezie Metu
Raptors Lineup
Dennis Schroder banged his left knee with Mikal Bridges last night but returned. It’s not the same knee that he had issues with earlier this month. Darko Rajakovic said Schroder was “fine” postgame.
PG: Dennis Schroder, Malachi Flynn
SG: O.G. Anunoby, Gary Trent Jr.
SF: Scottie Barnes Otto Porter Jr, Jalen McDaniels, Garrett Temple
PF: Pascal Siakam, Chris Boucher, Thaddeus Young
C: Jakob Poeltl, Precious Achiuwa
The Line
Phoenix is favoured to win its eighth straight game. The line will be more pro-Suns if KD’s availability is confirmed.
| Spread | Moneyline | Over/Under | |
| Suns | -2 (-110) | -130 | O 222.5 (-110) |
| Raptors | +2 (-110) | +110 | U 222.5 (-110) |
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