The NBA took the day off yesterday because they don’t think their fans can figure out a way to attend or watch games and vote on the same day. It is genuinely one of the most comical things I find with the league when they do it. No other sport even considers this, and they shouldn’t. If we want to mock the WNBA for a 12:30 Finals game on a Thursday (and we should), we should mock the NBA for this type of decision. Still, we have a nice game tonight with most teams back in action.
The Toronto Raptors come into this game with a 4-3 record and are just 2-2 away from Toronto. This is a team that came into the season with rather high expectations. They traded for Kawhi Leonard, and he is once again doing what he has done for the majority of his career: sitting out with an injury. That’s a really unfair thing to say about a guy who is considered one of the top 75 players of all time. However, it unfortunately is the reality. The Raptors are 2-0 with Leonard and won by a combined 53 points.
The Raptors still have some good talent on the floor, but their ceiling is much lower without Leonard available. Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, and Scottie Barnes are a solid combination, but the depth behind them leaves a lot to be desired, especially after the Leonard trade. Jakob Poeltl is listed as day-to-day, and he hasn’t played since Oct. 30. Poeltl doesn’t play many minutes anyway, but if he doesn’t, good luck even attempting to stop Nikola Jokic.
It seems like the Denver Nuggets‘ championship window is one of those broken windows where you can’t really move it up or down on the tracks. They still have Jokic, so the window is at least partially open. A healthy Jamal Murray gives the team a legitimate scoring threat to free up Jokic to be even more effective. Murray is one of the top five guys in the league when he is on a heater. There is no metric I can use to support it, but when he is in the zone, it seems like he is unguardable.
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After they won their championship in 2023, the team kind of fell apart because they lost all of their depth. They haven’t been back to the Finals since. However, the team has addressed those needs, and I think they’re better than they’ve been in years. Christian Braun is not someone I’d view as a top-15 shooting guard. Cameron Johnson is a solid small forward, and Aaron Gordon continues to do a bit of everything. More importantly, DeMar DeRozan, Tyus Jones and Marvin Bagley III are a solid trio off the bench that should maintain or lead the team when Jokic is out.
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The Nuggets continue to be one of the best teams in the league. They are coming off a loss, and despite being just 3-3 for the season, they haven’t lost back-to-back games this year. The bigger issue is that I think the Raptors are going to have significant difficulties on defense. Quickley and Barrett can’t guard Murray, and Barnes might deal with Jokic if Poeltl is out, but either option is still an advantage for Denver. The line on this one seems like Leonard will play, but he is out for sure. Give me the Nuggets -4.5.
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