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When Terrence Ross was traded, he finished off his Player’s Tribune piece with a statement which, at the time, seemed silly and over-laden with gratitude for his former team. He said:
“And the East,” I’ll tell them — I’ll promise them: “It goes through this team. Through this city.”
“It goes through Toronto.”
And today, that utterance seems truly prophetic, with the Raptors clinching the East’s 1-seed on Friday, just two days before Ross’s return from injury against his old team.
The stars have aligned for an otherwise meaningless April game. Welcome back Terry. Unfortunately, both DeMar DeRozan and Jonas Valanciunas will be seated for rest purposes (we presume), so fans won’t be getting that Ross v DeRozan shoot-out we all wanted.
But at least we’ll be getting a big dose of Bebe tonight!
Check out Satbir Singh’s full preview on the game here.
Where to Watch
Sportsnet One, 6:00pm EST
Lineups:
Toronto – Kyle Lowry, Norman Powell, OG Anunoby, Serge Ibaka, Lucas Nogueira
Orlando – D.J. Augustin, Wesley Iwundu, Mario Hezonja, Aaron Gordon, Nikola Vucevic
Injuries:
Toronto – DeMar DeRozan (Out — Rest), Jonas Valanciunas (Out — Rest)
Orlando – Aaron Gordon (Probable – Calf), Nikola Vucevic (Probable – back), Evan Fournier (OUT – Knee), Jonathan Simmons (OUT – Wrist), Jonathan Isaac (OUT – Ankle)