Last-Minute News, Rumours, Reports before Toronto Raptors Orlando Magic NBA Cup Game

Two nights ago, the Toronto Raptors beat the Orlando Magic by 30 points, 129-99, and at one point, they were up by 33. And tonight, the same two teams go at it again, but this time, it's different. See, Wednesday was just your regular, run-of-the-mill, regular season matchup, but today, we have our opening night of the NBA Cup. And Orlando's already come out and said they're locked in for this one, they're switching things up after the blowout that happened on Wednesday. So I'll break down everything that's come out regarding their plan, how the Toronto Raptors can once again pound down Orlando, and specifically one thing if they do in this game, it should lead to a massive W. First, let's break down the importance of this game because it's game one for the Toronto Raptors in the NBA Cup. Toronto and Orlando are in the same cup group as East Group A has Detroit, Milwaukee, and Brooklyn, along with the Raptors and Magic. Everyone plays So the top six group winners each Each go on to the quarterfinals, and so does one wildcard from each conference. The finals on December 11th in Indiana, it's the only Cup game that doesn't count towards the regular season standings. If two teams tie, then the first tiebreaker is their head-to-head matchup, and the second tiebreaker is the point differential in these NBA Cup games. So tonight, Toronto's playing for both. They need to beat Orlando, so they do have the tiebreakers. This is a pretty light NBA Cup division, so if they stay on top of definitely the Magic, the real contenders in this one are, of course, the Pistons and the Raptors. So if you stay above the other teams, the Bucks, the Nets, and get the wins against the Magic, you maintain your tiebreaker, and then you also want to juice up your points, because the point differential has a significant impact in your ability to get that wildcard spot if you do drop one of these games. And Toronto knows how fast this can go wrong. Last year, the Raptors went 4-0 in the group and then lost in the quarterfinals at home to the New York Knicks, 117-101. It should also be noted that the Orlando Magic went unbeaten in its group last year, so this is one of those streaks we gotta end tonight. Both teams are walking into this game without some of their top guys. Taking a look at the injury report tonight, once again, Kawhi Leonard will be out for the Toronto Raptors, the same issue that kept him out for Wednesday's game. Kawhi's obviously played just two of four games for the Toronto Raptors so far this season, and the left knee swelling is going to keep him out for at least the next week and probably longer. As we've covered in recent vids, the good news is that the MRI found no structural damage in Kawhi's knee. The team is going to re-evaluate him in at least a week, and Chris Haynes reported it's probably going to be 3-4 weeks until we get Kawhi Leonard's return. Kawhi also addressed this as he talked about how he was frustrated missing time, but said two words that he's going to be returning soon. Head coach of the Toronto Raptors has come out and said directly that there's still no timetable for Kawhi to return, but he's getting his treatment outside of Toronto, very likely out there in California, so I do expect he'll be back with the Toronto Raptors in the meantime, but it's good that he has no structural damage in his knee. Obviously, we know the impact that has not having Kawhi Leonard out there on your roster, but it's not just him as Nate Biddle continues to be out with that foot as well. It's safe to expect Jacoby Walter will be starting in his place once again as he's gotten the past two starts with Kawhi Leonard being out. And of course, just like Wednesday, the Orlando Magic's list is a lot longer out there for the injury report. Paolo Banchero is out with a high ankle sprain and the usual timeline for that is four to six weeks. So he is definitely confirmed out for this one. And Jalen Suggs is out as well with the bone bruise in his knee. You can also add Jonathan Isaac, Noah Penda, as well as Nelson as the five players that are out for this Magic squad. So Toronto's missing their most, at least, established player. A lot would argue their best player. You know, Scottie and him are the 1A and 1B. Orlando's missing their best player, best perimeter defender in Jalen Suggs, and three more guys. So once again, even without Kawhi, the Raptors should be heavy favorites coming into this game. I mean, the same teams matched up on Wednesday, and the Raptors blew them out by 30. So if it wasn't Kawhi that beat them on Wednesday, they should be able to do it again. So what happened in that game, and how does that project into tonight's? Once again, it was the Toronto Raptors' defense. Orlando turned the ball over 20 times on Wednesday in Toronto, turned those into 20 points. The guy who got it the worst was Franz Wagner, again, a player that's been compared to Scottie Barnes for a very, very long time. So Scottie always takes it a little bit personal, matching up against the Orlando Magic, but he had seven turnovers by himself. And if this Franz-Scottie rivalry wasn't, you know, added some gasoline onto the fire, Scottie guarded Franz for six years. minutes in that game, and in those six minutes, Franz went 0-3 and turned over the ball four times. So more than half of Franz's turnovers happened when Scottie Barnes was guarding him. And this isn't just one night. Toronto has forced 20 or more turnovers in all four games that they played this season. That's the longest start to a season since the 2011-2012 Denver Nuggets. Josh Loomer counted 88 forced turnovers in their first 14 quarters. That's as many as Portland and New Orleans combined. They also lead the league in steals at 14 basically a game. And once the turnovers started piling up for the Orlando Magic, that's when Scottie Barnes really took over. Three nights after he went 0 for 12 in Minnesota, he went 7 of 7 in the third quarter for 16 points. He also had a little nasty, disrespectful 360 jam in the third as well that capped off a 12 to 3 run. He finished the game with 28 points on 11 of 17 shooting, and Toronto was a plus 30 with him on the court. Darko kept it measured after the game, said, I don't know if it was our most complete game, but it's only been four games, and I feel like we did a good job defensively. So that's how Toronto stopped them, but then they really blew them out for one specific reason. Obviously, we talked about how the turnovers turned to fast break points. They won it 23-12 in terms of those fast break buckets, but the Raptors offensively were moving the ball at an elite rate. Toronto had 33 assists in that game. Orlando had 22, which is the lowest of the season. And the guy that continues to be underestimated by so many people across the league, RJ Barrett, had 21 points at halftime. 8 of 11 shooting, he really set the tone in the first half for the Raptors. He only scored 4 after the break on 1 of 7 shooting, but it didn't matter because the game was already a blowout. Darko said after the game, he set the tone for us on the offensive end. And they also executed the game plan perfectly that they've been talking about this entire summer. Toronto took 35 threes in that game and made 15 of them. That number 35 is not random, because before this season, the Raptors set a goal of getting 35 attempts from 3 every single game. Attempts, not makes, would be elite if they knocked down 35 a night, but they wanted to get those numbers up shooting the basketball. Emmanuel quickly did his part, went 4 of 8 from the 3 point line, on his way to 16 points and 7 assists. It should also be noted that Magic also took 35 threes as well, and only hit 10 of them. So how does the Orlando Magic plan on bouncing back, strategizing for the Toronto Raptors? Well, one of their guards said it out loud. Javon Carter came out and called out his team a little bit, said they have to take care of the basketball, get back in transition, and make it tougher on the Raptors. And then Desmond Bain, a guy that's killed the Raptors in the past, went even further. He called this a chance to quote right the wrong that happened on Wednesday. And he was specific about Franz Wagner. He said it's real tough with Scottie Barnes hounding him all night. He's calling for the coaching staff of the team to free Franz up more and, quote, maybe getting him off the ball a little bit earlier would help. And if you want me to translate that, they do not feel comfortable with Franz Wagner having the basketball isolating on a defender the level of Scottie Barnes, which feeds in all my Scottie over Franz Wagner narratives that have been going on over the past few years. Their coach, Sean Sweeney, said that the communication was not where it needed to be and they'll get it all cleaned up. Now, I think a lot of this is going to be talk because the Raptors defense has been elite against every team that they played and the talent level without Paolo as well as Suggs is a little bit down on the Magic team. So I think the Raptors are going to maintain their level of intensity and keep the Orlando Magic shaken up there on the offensive end. But one thing I do think will get fixed is Desmond Bain and he's one of the more elite shooters in the entire NBA and he went 3 of 14 on Wednesday. Now he's been pretty bad to start off the season as a whole. He's shooting just over 30% from the field this season and under 28% from three, but this is not who he is as a basketball player. This is a little slump that's happening right now for one of the league's best shooters. And we've seen him in the past kill the Toronto Raptors from behind the three point line. So I wouldn't be surprised if he bounces back in this game. The one Magic player that did hurt the Raptors on Wednesday was Tristan Da Silva. He had 20 points off the bench on eight of 10 shooting. Orlando has used three different starting lineups over the past three games, so I wouldn't be surprised if Da Silva sneaks his way into that starting unit tonight. But Toronto does have one leak of its own that has been a topic of discussion now for a huge chunk of the start of the season. And that is Jakob Poeltl, who played 10 minutes on Wednesday and picked up five fouls in those 10 minutes. Now, Darko's addressed a lot of the criticism, a lot of the stuff that's come out as of late, and he said, quote, four games in, Yak is our starter. We are the number one defense in the league at this time, and he has a lot to do with that. He also added that Yak does so many things on the defensive end, and a lot of those things won't show up in the box score. Now, I've been an avid supporter of Yakaperto over the past couple of years, but of course, the fact that he does look more mobile, I made a whole video on it yesterday. It's concerning that his stats are as bad as they are, but nonetheless, he did have a really good defensive game on Friday against the Wizards. But we do need him to show that level of discipline, not fouling every single night, and the ability to get rebounds. If he's able to do those things, then he's fine. He's playable. Keep him at the starting center. But because he's struggling in the two areas that he's really known for, expected to do well in, that's what has Raptors fans so frustrated, especially when his backup is playing really, really well. Trace Jackson Davis had 11 rebounds in just 20 minutes. Now, while Darko has publicly stood with Jakob Poeltl in terms of quotes, in terms of the press conferences, he has said everything is on the table with him. So if Poeltl does pick up two early fouls tonight, watch how fast Trace Jackson Davis will check in. I also want to note Jamal Shaddad had a really good game against the Magic, 13 points, 7 assists off the bench. And, you know, Darko said he changed the game for the Raptors. One thing I do want to note, we are so, so close, under 50 subscribers away from a huge milestone of 45,000. So make sure you guys hit that subscribe button. If you enjoy all the daily Toronto Raptors content, we're posting here on Raptors Digest. So here's where I land. The Raptors are currently five and a half point favorites against the Orlando Magic. And in the regular season, Toronto leads this series 63 to 47. So they've gotten the historical edge out there on the Magic. Toronto's also won six of their last seven games against Orlando and four straight at home. You can also add in the fact that two games the Raptors have played at home so far this year, they are plus 73. Now, to be fair, I think the Orlando Magic Magic are going to be coming in with a high level. level of desperation. They're a team that is 1-3 right now, and if they go down to 1-4, it will be ugly. And not to mention the added stakes of the NBA In-Season Tournament, the NBA Cup. So my take is I don't expect this to be another 30-piece blowout, especially for most of the game, maybe by the end of it. I think Desmond Bain's going to end a slump. Like, whenever I watch that guy play, I know he had a rough one on Wednesday, but he always strikes fear into me with some of the games he's had in the past. He's a nasty three-point shooter. I think this game is going to be a lot more competitive. But if you're the Orlando Magic, you're not going to be able to fix what the Toronto Raptors does to offenses with their hounding defense, especially not over 48 hours without getting Jalen Suggs or Paolo Banchero back. As I probably will with every single one of these pre-games, I'm picking the Toronto Raptors here tonight. But if you want to keep up to date with all the latest rumors, make sure you guys check out this video here. And we'll also be streaming tonight, so make sure you tune in for that stream.