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When the Raptors play a regular season game at noon on a Sunday, the first thing I think of is Toronto Raptors basketball on the CBC. Remember that? For a brief period, Canada's public broadcaster aired Raptors games — almost all ridiculously early on Sunday afternoons — during the team's short resurgence in the mid-2000's.
If you need a refresher, here's George Stroumboulopoulos on the "B.C. era" (that's for Bryan Colangelo, if you didn't know).
The Raptors aren't on CBC here in 2017, and it's a good thing today's point guard combo is markedly better than T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon, who... sorry George, were not the best in the league.
Yes, the Raptors will again need a big game from Kyle Lowry in today's game against the Brooklyn Nets — and he'll be playing through flu-like symptoms. DeMar DeRozan and Patrick Patterson will both sit again with ankle and knee injuries, respectively.
Another game off for banged-up Raptors DeRozan and Patterson. Lowry's under the weather but will go
— Doug Smith: Raptors (@SmithRaps) February 5, 2017
On the Nets side, intrigue is lessened by Caris LeVert's sore knee, which will force the exciting rookie to sit.
Caris LeVert is out for today's game vs Toronto due to right knee soreness, per Nets PR.
— Michael Gallagher (@MikeSGallagher) February 5, 2017
That'll help Toronto, as they seek to win their eighth straight against the Nets. Last time out, Cory Joseph scored a career-high 33 points to lead the team. As it always is with the Brooklyn Nets, the key will be to try to contain Brook Lopez. If the Toronto can do that, everything else should fall into place.
If you need more info on this obscenely early basketball game, Kevin Nimmock has a more intensive preview and was kind enough to drop it in before 8 a.m. on a Sunday. Now, let's put our best foot forward into the comments section.