Game Thread: Toronto Raptors @ Sacramento Kings

Late night West coast Friday night basketball in the middle of the pandemic! Remember when Friday nights were for going out and having a good time? Dinners, drinks, mingling, pubs, clubs, staying out late? Now we’ll be lucky to stay awake until halftime.

The Toronto Raptors can’t afford to sleepwalk through this matchup with the Sacramento Kings, though. The Raptors are 1-6 and although they’ve beaten Sacramento six straight times, this long, athletic Kings team — one of seven Western conference teams with a 4-4 record — while not a real contender, is not the same Kings team of old.

The task in fact will be even tougher, as news came down this afternoon that Kyle Lowry has the night off for personal reasons. Does that mean more Malachi Flynn minutes? Point Boucher?? We shall see. It does mean Norman Powell will start, as per Nick Nurse; Nurse also mentioned an additional possible change to the starting lineup but declined to offer specifics.

Last time these two teams met, Pascal Siakam hit a dagger layup with 30 seconds to go to seal a Raptors win, two of his 23 points. Toronto will need that kind of performance — the same kind Siakam delivered on Wednesday in Phoenix — to come out on top tonight.

For more, check out JD’s preview from this morning and the updated details below.

Where to Watch:

TSN, 10:00pm EST

Lineups:

Toronto — Fred VanVleet, Norman Powell, OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakam, Aron Baynes

Sacramento — De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, Harrison Barnes, Richaun Holmes, Marvin Bagley

Injuries:

Toronto — Patrick McCaw (out — knee), Kyle Lowry (out — personal)

Sacramento — Jabari Parker (out — health protocol), DaQuan Jeffries (out — ankle)