Game thread: Toronto Raptors at New York Knicks

Can you believe I’m about to start another story by asking “can you believe the regular season is over?” Well, believe it or not, it’s true! Uh, both things. Both things are true.

Anywho, time sure has flown. Seems like only yesterday I was predicting the Toronto Raptors would miss the playoffs and go back to the lottery!

I’d like to believe I was purposely setting my expectations low, so that I could be pleasantly surprised when the Raptors exceeded them. And I sure am! What a season it’s been; this team is an unlucky bounce or missed game due to injury away from winning 50 games, and I’m old enough to remember when it seemed like this franchise would never win 50 games in a season.

So here we are, headed to the playoffs, with one game to go — the one where we all cross our fingers and hope no one gets hurt. The New York Knicks are sitting most of their players, and the Raptors will sit Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam. OG Anunoby is expected to play, but probably just a few minutes to get some cardio. The rest of the core Raptors (Trent, Barnes, Achiuwa) will probably also get short runs tonight, as well.

(Although, with several Raptors (Banton, Bonga, Johnson, Champagnie) off helping the Raptors 905 hopefully win another playoff game, the bench isn’t super deep. Malachi Flynn, Yuta Watanabe and Svi Mykhailiuk might get some extended run!)

Either way, send your prayers to the basketball gods for a short, painless, injury-free game — and hopefully win #49 for the Raptors.

Where to Watch:

Sportsnet, 7:00PM EST

Lineups:

Toronto – OG Anunoby, Gary Trent Jr., Scottie Barnes, Khem Birch, Armoni Brooks

Knicks – Immanuel Quickley, Alec Burks, Evan Fournier, Obi Toppin, Jericho Sims

Injuries:

Toronto – Fred VanVleet (knee – out), Pascal Siakam (rest – out), OG Anunoby (thigh – questionable), Isaac Bonga (G-League – out), Dalano Banton (G-League – out), Justin Champagnie (G-League – out), David Johnson (G-League – out)

New York – Mitchell Robinson (illness – out), Quentin Grimes (knee – out), Miles McBride (knee – out), RJ Barrett (knee – out), Julius Randle (quad – out), Nerlens Noel (foot – out), Cam Reddish (shoulder – out), Derrick Rose (ankle – out), Kemba Walker (not with team – out)