Game Thread: Toronto Raptors vs. Charlotte Hornets

I’ll say this much for the Charlotte Hornets: Thank God they have LaMelo Ball.

If they hadn’t drafted Ball in November and didn’t have him playing an important role on their team, and we as Toronto Raptors fans were watching the old version of the Charlotte Hornets for the fourth time in 35 days... well, we’d probably be watching Hockey Night in Canada instead.

But Ball, with his court awareness, passing wizardry and shotmaking (yes, even with that funky release), makes these Hornets extremely fun to watch! And with our Raptors slowly but surely figuring things out (fingers crossed) we can actually look forward to yet another Hornets game tonight.

In terms of updates, Alex Len will miss his second straight game, as the team has announced he’s in the health and safety protocol program. For Charlotte, Gordon Hayward was listed as probable as of the pre-game injury report.

For more on these two teams, check out Zakaria’s preview from this morning, then settle in to watch!

Where to Watch:

TSN4, 7:30 p.m. EST

Lineups:

Toronto – Fred VanVleet, Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, Aron Baynes

Charlotte – Devonte’ Graham, Terry Rozier, Gordon Hayward, PJ Washington, Bismack Biyombo

Injuries:

Toronto – Alex Len (health and safety protocols – out); Patrick McCaw (knee – out)

Charlotte – Gordon Hayward (hip – probable), Cody Zeller (hand – out), Grant Riller (knee – out)