Despite having clinched a playoff berth for the first since 2008, the Toronto Raptors have quite a bit to worry about with just eight games left in the regular season.
Kyle Lowry will sit out Wednesday’s game against the Houston Rockets after suffering a knee injury in a collision with LeBron James during the Raptors’ loss to the Miami Heat on Monday. Lowry played through the injury for a little, but left the game in the third quarter with swelling. X-rays came up negative, but the point guard had to be taken to the team bus on a cart, suggesting that this isn’t just a stinger.
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Programming alert: Watch the Toronto Raptors take on the Houston Rockets with coverage beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET / 4:00 p.m. PT on Sportsnet ONE
Making matters worse, the Raptors are locked in a dead tie with the Chicago Bulls for third in the Eastern Conference and Toronto’s matchup with Houston doesn’t bode well for the Dinos, particularly with the Bulls playing the decidedly weaker Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.
Tonight’s matchup is the second of three extremely tough encounters for the Raptors. With the Bulls having already finished the toughest part of their schedule, grabbing a win in at least one of the three is vital.
Houston, we have an injury problem
As unfortunate as Lowry’s injury is for the Raptors, the Rockets shouldn’t show any sympathy because they too have lost important players of late.
Dwight Howard, Patrick Beverly and Terrence Jones have all gone down with various injuries, putting home-court advantage for the first round of the playoffs in jeopardy.
Howard has missed the last two games in order to rest his left ankle—part of the recovery process after having a cyst removed from it a few weeks ago. Beverly tore the meniscus in his left knee and has also missed the Rockets’ last two games. While Jones has only missed Houston’s last contest with the flu, making him the likeliest to be back in action against Toronto on Wednesday.
Following five straight wins, the Rockets have lost both games without Howard and Beverley. The Raptors should consider themselves fortunate for getting the Rockets at this juncture as, even without Lowry, they should be able to hang tough against this current Houston lineup—with one notable exception.
Fear the beard
James Harden is the best shooting guard in the NBA today.
The fifth-leading scorer in the NBA at 25.1 points per game; he shoots 46 percent from the floor and 37 percent from deep; averages 5.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game; gets to the line 8.7 times per contest, making 86 percent of his attempts; and draws 5.7 personal fouls per game on opposing teams.
In other words, he’s pretty much an unstoppable offensive force and there’s really no one on Toronto’s roster able to contain him. That means Dwane Casey will likely have to alter his usual defensive scheme and look to double team more often in an effort to get the ball out of Harden’s hands—a strategy that could be equally dangerous because of Harden’s excellent playmaking skills and Houston’s penchant for hoisting threes (the Rockets have attempted the second-most three-point shots in the league, making the seventh most).
One way to slow Houston’s bearded superstar down is to make him pay on the defensive end. Harden is a downright weak defender, giving up 107 points per 100 possessions this season. He has a hard time staying in front of his man and will oftentimes concede jumpers without a hard closeout or contest.
The Raptors should take advantage of this and have DeMar DeRozan go at Harden from the wing and on the block in post-up situations, where his height advantage will prove to be an exhausting handful for the Rockets’ star.
