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AND NOW FOR YOUR TORONTO RAPTORS STARTING LINE UP (BUT WITH NURSE WHO KNOWS)
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PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
GAME NOTES:
•In advance of the 2019-20 Season Restart at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, all 22 teams participat-ing will play three scrimmages before the restart officially tips off on July 30. The Raptors will face the Port-land Trail Blazers on Sunday in their second scrimmage game. The two teams split the 2019-20 season-series with each team winning on the road.
•The Raptors scrimmaged against Houston on Friday, defeating the Rockets 94-83 in the first game back for both teams. Toronto finished with 25 assists on 34 field goals and had a +18 advantage in bench scor-ing (41-to-23). Serge Ibaka led the Raptors with 18 points, while rookie Terence Davis added 15 points off the bench in the victory. Toronto outscored Houston 22-10 in the fourth quarter.
•Toronto’s last regular season game was Mar. 9 at Utah when the team completed a five-game Western Conference road trip. The Raptors returned home after the game and had the next day off. Players and travel staff were tested for COVID-19 the Wednesday night (Mar. 11) after the Jazz’s game at Oklahoma City was cancelled and the season was suspended. Due to travel restrictions in Canada, the team recon-vened on June 22 in Fort Myers, Florida, to prepare for a resumption to the 2019-20 season. Toronto trained at Florida Gulf Coast University before arriving in Orlando.
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Toronto will begin the restart with a 3.0 game lead over Boston for second in the Eastern Conference. The Raptors are looking to capture their sixth Atlantic Division title in the last seven seasons.
•Prior to the NBA suspending the season, the Raptors (46-18, .719) were on pace to tie the single season franchise record with 59 wins. This despite their top five leading scorers all missing at least 10 games -Pascal Siakam (11), Kyle Lowry (12), Fred VanVleet (16), Norman Powell (20) and Serge Ibaka (14)
.•Toronto needs four victories in its eight “seeding†games to reach 50 wins for the fifth straight season. The Raptors never won 50 games in their first 20 NBA seasons. Since the start of the 2015-16 season, Toron-to’s .689 (270W-122L) winning percentage during the regular season is tops in the NBA.
•Pascal Siakamis averaging career highs of 23.6 points and 7.5 rebounds through 53 games played this season. Only two players in Raptors history have finished a season averaging at least 23.0 points and 7.0 rebounds: Chris Bosh in 2009–10 (24.0, 10.8) and Kawhi Leonard in 2018–19 (26.6, 7.3)
.•The Raptors have held their opponent to fewer than 100 points in 19 games this season -most in the NBA. Toronto is 15-4 in those contests. The Raptors currently lead the NBA in points allowed per game (106.5) and opponent three-point percentage (.337) and rank second in opponent field goal percentage (.429)
.•In 52 games this season, Kyle Lowry is averaging 19.7 points; +5.5 points from last season (14.2 ppg in 2018-19).Lowry has scored 20 or more points 27 times, including six games with 30+ points.
•The Raptors have a different statistical leader in total points (Pascal Siakam -1,253), rebounds (Serge Ibaka-414), assists (Kyle Lowry -399), steals (Fred VanVleet -91) and blocks (Chris Boucher -53)
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