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Game Preview: Raptors vs Wizards

Washington Wizards(4-4) @ Toronto Raptors (5-3)

When: Sunday, November 5th, 6 P.M. ET

Where: Air Canada Centre

Broadcast info: TSN4, SN590

LAST MEETING

The Raptors won their final meeting against the Wizards last season thanks to a 21-point performance (including 14 in the fourth) from Norman Powell off the bench. The 114-106 victory followed a loss to the Wizards on the Air Canada Centre floor just days before, but Powell and DeMar DeRozan (game-high 32 points) ensured they left Washington with a win despite Kyle Lowry’s absence as he rehabbed from wrist surgery. John Wall scored 30 points and Bradley Beal added 27 for the Wizards in the loss.

LEADING INTO TONIGHT

After finally finishing a season-high six-game road trip where they posted a 3-3 record, the Raptors return to the Air Canada Centre for a three-game homestand. The contest against the Wizards will be the first of two meetings against Washington in November, with the Wizards returning to the ACC on Nov. 19. Toronto went 2-1 in last year’s series with Washington, with both victories coming on the road.

Injury report: Almost immediately after getting the entire roster back from injury in Denver, the Raptors were a man down in Utah. C.J. Miles missed Friday’s game against the Jazz with flu-like symptoms. He is currently listed as questionable for Sunday’s game.

DeMar DeRozan led the way in Toronto’s 109-100 victory against the Utah Jazz on Friday, scoring a season-high 37 points. Last season, he had plenty of offensive success against the Wizards, topping 24 points in each of the team’s meetings against Washington. DeRozan is currently ranked 12th in the NBA in scoring and he owns the Wizards’ all-time series opponent scoring record with a 40-point performance in the two teams’ first meeting last season.

EXTRA ASSISTS

Wall status unclear: All-Star guard John Wall’s status for Sunday’s game is unknown after he left the floor with a shoulder injury in Washington’s loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday.

Familiar faces: Washington’s head coach, Scott Brooks, coached Serge Ibaka for six years in Oklahoma City, while Raptors’ assistant coach Rex Kalamian also was in Oklahoma City working on Brooks’ coaching staff. C.J. Miles played with Wizards forward Ian Mahinmi in Indiana from 2014-16. Previously to Mahinmi’s time in Indiana, he was with Dwane Casey when Casey was an assistant coach in Dallas.

Though Toronto looked solid taking down the Jazz, the victory came just two days after a disappointing blowout loss in Denver. Dwane Casey wants to see more of Friday’s performance moving forward. “I know [Friday] is the way we have to play,” Casey said.”That’s our playing personality. To win in this league that’s the way you have to play. Not one night, not every other night, every night.”

Catching up: Delon Wright and Jakob Poeltl closed out Toronto’s six-game road trip playing in front of a Jazz crowd very familiar with their talents. The duo were first teammates at the University of Utah, where they played for Larry Krystkowiak’s Utah Utes. After Toronto’s victory, they were able to catch up: