Live blog: Raptors’ Anunoby, Ibaka good to go for Game 1 against Nets
Ibaka #Ibaka
They miss you.
They really miss you.
The Raptors may not be in a hermetically sealed bubble outside Orlando but they’re definitely not in Toronto as they begin defence of their NBA title today against the Brooklyn Nets. Tip off is 4 p.m.
“Our fans in Toronto are the best fans in the NBA. I truly believe that,” Kyle Lowry was saying the other day. “That alone will be missed, and Jurassic Park, all that, the atmosphere, the electricity around the city, the buzz around the city, that’s definitely going to be missed and we wish we could have it.
“But I think we’re playing hard out here for our fans. I think you guys have seen how intense all these games in here have been, so I think the playoffs is just going to be another level that you have to understand that you have to take your game to.”
If you’re looking to see the game at least around some other fans — not with them, but around them in these socially-distanced times — there’s a drive-in viewing party being set up at the OLG Play Stage on the grounds of Ontario Place.
For a $25 per car donation, fans can at least approximate the feeling of a Jurassic Park.
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The 11 a.m. ET injury report checked out as expected.
Toronto will be without Oshae Brissett and Patrick McCaw and there is no mention of either OG Anunoby or Serge Ibaka, who both missed seeding games with some knee discomfort.
Aside from the myriad players who haven’t been with the Nets since the whole restart began, veteran Jamal Crawford will miss Game 1 with a hamstring injury suffered early in the seeding system.
John Goble, Tony Brown and Leon Wood will be handling the officiating duties for the afternoon.
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NBA playoffs in August? We’ll take it.
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