NBA Matchups: October 30

TOR @ CHA | LAL @ CLE | BOS @ IND | DET @ PHI | ATL @ WAS | NYK @ MIA | ORL @ CHI | BKN @ MEM | SAS @ OKC | NOP @ GSW | POR @ LAC

Toronto Raptors at Charlotte Hornets

Team Totals: Raptors 109.3, Hornets 115.8

Injury Report: Immanuel Quickley (D, hip), Scottie Barnes (O, eye), Brandon Miller (O, glute)

Raptors projected starters: Davion Mitchell, Gradey Dick, R.J. Barrett, Ochai Agbaji, Jakob Poeltl

Hornets projected starters: LaMelo Ball, Seth Curry, Cody Martin, Miles Bridges, Nick Richards

Darko quotes: Said Scottie got hit in the eye and was being evaluated after the game, said they competed for most of the game and they had good energy, said R.J. got winded throughout the game and he had a minutes limit on him, said Gradey “needs to find his moments” and his teammates need to find him, said Shead is progressing well and has moved well without the ball.

Lee quotes: Said they were having some physical issues against the Heat, said they have to value the ball a little more, said it was great that they have played close games, said Salaun “definitely looked like it was his first NBA action” when he first came in but got it going, said Salaun “has the eye of the tiger” when he shoots it and they don’t want him to be shy.

Stats and Notes: 

*The Raptors almost pulled off the upset on the Nuggets, as they continue to play somewhat well since their embarrassing opener against the Cavs. The Raptors are still playing in transition a ton at sixth in the NBA, and they are generating more rim possessions than any team in the league. Of course, they are getting killed inside with the third-highest rim possessions allowed as a huge rim funnel to start the year. They’ve also really capped C&S stuff with the fourth-lowest points allowed on those in the NBA, including the fewest C&S 3PAs allowed per game. For the Hornets on defense, they’ve also been much better at limiting C&S volume, but teams are killing them on efficiency at 1.31 PPP on the 72 C&S shots so far. Lastly, the Hornets are still playing really slow at just 26th in offensive pace. This has been a trend since the preseason.

*With Scottie Barnes (eye) out and Immanuel Quickley (hip) still doubtful, the Raptors are really short on playmaking. That should be R.J. Barrett’s music after returning to the lineup on Monday. Barrett still got the role with 44 frontcourt touches and 3.2 minutes of touch time (Barnes 60, 6.1 minutes). We saw last season that the Raps would really be willing to let R.J. run things, and I’d expect that today. He will still have a cap on him, so it may be a tougher bet on a big slate.

*The Raptors will need to really lean on Jakob Poeltl for rim scoring, and we saw a big role on Monday with 84 touches, 52 frontcourt touches (15 paint touches, seven elbow touches), and even a couple of post-ups. We love centers against the Hornets, so this might be the best spot Poeltl is going to get all year.

*Ochai Agbaji should get the start again with Barnes out, but we know he’s not a guy who can create much offense. Davion Mitchell still had a pretty good handling role on Monday at 5.1 minutes over 35 minutes (five OT minutes). With Scottie out, there may be more of a ceiling to him than we’re used to. Gradey Dick should get more shot volume, but he is unlikely to see a bigger handling role. It’ll be fun to see more Jonathan Mogbo, and he might be a play if he’s cheap enough.

*LaMelo Ball is off to a really big start with his 32/7/7 line over 34.4 minutes per game. We’re still waiting for the Hornets to push the pace, but this feels like the spot to do it. He will have a huge size advantage on Davion. LaMelo’s downhill game has been on display to start the year with 17.7 drives and 10.7 points on those. We could get a Melo explosion.

*Miles Bridges hasn’t seen big volume as a scorer. He’s been more of a spot-up shooter, and the on-ball role just hasn’t been there. He should also get the tougher matchup with Agbaji on him, so I’m not too into him.

*Nick Richards gets an awesome matchup here. His minutes should be more secure against the size of Poeltl, and we’ve seen Poeltl always give up big scoring lines. With the Raptors being so weak inside overall and no Scottie on the weak side, it sets up great.

Great matchups: Jakob Poeltl, LaMelo Ball

Good matchups: Nick Richards, R.J. Barrett, Miles Bridges

Bad matchups: Nobody

Los Angeles Lakers at Cleveland Cavaliers