Game #63 of 82 Magic at Raptors Friday March 4th 7:30pm on SN

[Jclaw]

As a wise man once said...

and as another apparently very wise man once said..

About one quarter of the season left to go
20 games

Right now we're closer to the 6th see than we are the 8th
Sure, anything can change.
And sure, it would be a lot better to be starting with a 6-3 matchup
rather than doing one and done games against, say Atlanta and Brooklyn.

But let me remind you..

"20. Toronto Raptors
When we last saw them ... The Raptors had a nightmare of a season, having to play a full year on the road in Tampa, Florida, having a COVID-19 outbreak among players and coaches, and missing the playoffs. Then, franchise icon Kyle Lowry left in free agency -- though they did get lottery luck and moved up to draft Scottie Barnes fourth overall.
Win-loss projections

• ESPN Forecast: 35-47
• FiveThirtyEight: 41-41
• Caesars: 36.5 wins | Title odds: +12500"

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...s-all-30-teams

We are playing with house money.
Nobody (but us) predicted we'd be in this place.
That Scottie wouldn't just be in the ROY talk but also propelling us to this spot.
However it ends up, Scottie, Precious, Gary,..heck, even OG should get valuable playoff minutes

So enjoy the 82 practices.
Enjoy Scottie's mini rookie battle royale this week.
Sure the double double stat lines looked pretty similar for the two rooks
22/12/5 v.s 21/10/2

But as the story has been all season, you can have the rook that gets those 22 points on 9 of 20 shooting on a lottery team.
I'll take the guy who gets 21 on 7 of 13 and hounds you on defense.

Say what you want about Precious, and he does have some perplexing shots, but he's 5x the player that started the season.
Even Malachi showed well before finally conceding size to the surprisingly large Pistons

So wipe off that "Casey won again??!!" malaise.

(although, low key, it would have been nice to hang a loss on the Pistons)

So cheer up! It's the Magic!

The single best team for game thread gifs






It's been a while since I've used this format so let's try looking at who
the Raps will be facing

PG

SG

SF

PF

C

So yes....it's about the process

But the Cavs are playing the Sixers,
we're playing the Magic.
Let the oddsmakers be right, get a win and a Cleveland loss.
Then we'll be one back of the Cavs before the ROY showdown against them on the ESPN Sunday night game
LFG!!!!!!!!

And in the meantime,
let's see if we can make the Magic.....
Disappear!

Go Raps

[The Great One]

I don't want to hear any back to back excuse tonight. I just watched the Heat(without Lowry) who the previous night lost to the Bucks beat the the KD Nets team in the second night of a back to back.

[Primer]

Hopefully we come out hard and put a stamp on this game. I skipped last night's game because I knew we would lay an egg again against the Pistons.

Gary desperately needs a bounce back game here.

[Jclaw]

I don't want to hear any back to back excuse tonight. I just watched the Heat(without Lowry) who the previous night lost to the Bucks beat the the KD Nets team in the second night of a back to back.

...and Butler!

[slaw]

That loss last night stung in the playoff race. Could have crawled to 1 GB of the Cavs (who are reeling) but instead are still 2 back. Gotta get this one tonight in advance of the road trip. Will be travelling tonight so will miss most of the game but here's hoping for a much better performance than against the Pistons.

[Primer]

That loss last night stung in the playoff race. Could have crawled to 1 GB of the Cavs (who are reeling) but instead are still 2 back. Gotta get this one tonight in advance of the road trip. Will be travelling tonight so will miss most of the game but here's hoping for a much better performance than against the Pistons.

You should have just accepted every game against Detroit is a loss. I do whenever I made my win projections. The Casey curse is real.

[G__Deane]

Better just have been the Casey Curse or if they lose tonight, could be the start of a very bad stretch
They have lost to some VERY bad teams in the last 2 weeks only bookending W's against an empty Nets team.

[DanH]

Go Raps!

Seems Fred and OG are still out (which is good! Being cautious with injuries is good!), so have to buckle down and bounce back from last night.

I'd like to see Precious getting the start. Birch works as a starter a) when he's at his usual level of performance, and he's not looked in shape for a while now, and b) when all you need with the starters is a low usage, low event guy because you've got 4 other killers out there, especially on defence. With Fred and OG out Precious' defence should be valuable enough to offset his offence, and maybe his offence will be better now compared to early in the season. Wouldn't hurt to try, I don't think.

[KeonClark]

I don't want to hear any back to back excuse tonight. I just watched the Heat(without Lowry) who the previous night lost to the Bucks beat the the KD Nets team in the second night of a back to back.

I mean, it IS 4 in 5. 4 games in 5 nights used to be unheard, this is our 2nd time doing it this year.

The first time, we won all 4 games.

[bertarapsfan]

Remember when we thought every time these 2 teams matched up we would be comparing Jalen and scottie wondering if masai fucked up? Only half a season and Scottie has already proved the front office right

[KeonClark]

Jalen

Who?

[The Great One]

Remember when we thought every time these 2 teams matched up we would be comparing Jalen and scottie wondering if masai fucked up? Only half a season and Scottie has already proved the front office right

Way way way too early to say that.

[bertarapsfan]

Way way way too early to say that.

Is it? Scottie was supposed to be the one who was going to take time to show too pick potential. Suggs was supposedly a nba ready guard.

[KeonClark]

GTJ jumper looks worse than Westbrooks right now. We're in trouble with the current injuries if he struggles.

[golden]

Why do we have to press up on ball-handlers and let them blow right by us... time and time again.