Toronto's problem is about bodies more than schemes. Scottie Barnes hasn't played since the Nov. 4 loss in Denver because of a left groin strain, and Kawhi Leonard is still on knee management after swelling that an MRI found to be non-structural. Trayce Jackson-Davis sat the Philadelphia game with an illness, and Nate Bittle has been out with a foot injury. That's a frontcourt being held together with tape.
Even so, the Raptors have scrapped. In the 123-112 loss at Philadelphia on the second night of a back-to-back, they led by 9 after the 1st quarter before the Sixers took the 2nd and 3rd by 9 apiece. RJ Barrett put up 31 points and 14 rebounds, and Immanuel Quickley added 26. Those two are carrying the load right now, and they'll need to do it again Sunday unless Barnes gets cleared.
The matchup to watch is the boards. New York leads the league in offensive rebounding percentage, ranks 2nd on the defensive glass, and has outscored opponents by 7.4 a night on second chances. Towns is grabbing a third of the available defensive rebounds when he's on the floor. Toronto just lost to Memphis and Philadelphia with its forward rotation gutted. If Barnes and Jackson-Davis are both still out, Barrett is going to spend the night boxing out bigger men.
Toronto has dropped 3 straight and sits at 5-7. The lone win in its last 5 was a 121-107 victory at Milwaukee, and the 93-98 home loss to Boston showed an offense that stalls without Barnes to create. The Raptors won't play again before tipoff, so they get a couple of days to get healthy. The Knicks will be coming in off Friday's game in Indiana.
Tipoff is 6:00 PM ET on Sunday, November 15. Watch the Barnes injury report and Leonard's progress between now and then, since either return changes how this one looks. The other thing that changes it is how the Knicks come out of Indianapolis.
