I suppose we bought a preview of the high-low rollercoaster we may even see all season within the first two video games alone?

The offence went from an anemic 83 factors vs Washington, barely eclipsing the thirtieth percentile from the sphere, to 115 in a stunning blowout win at Boston. That was the Celtics worst house loss since March 2007 by the best way. Getting booed off the courtroom too? Cooks kiss. Nonetheless, the Raptors have the twenty sixth finest offensive score up to now (97.6).

On the flip aspect, the defence has been straight line constant total. Toronto has the third finest defensive score of 89.4 by way of two video games, holding each groups they’ve confronted below 100 factors. Jaylen Brown went from 46 factors vs the Knicks to 9. Jayson Tatum shot over 50 p.c, however didn’t get off as many photographs as he would have preferred both.

In come the Mavs, who’re licking their very own wounds from their 113-87 ass kicking by the hands of the Atlanta Hawks. Luka Doncic was Dallas’ main scorer in that one with solely 18 factors. As a staff, the Mavs shot 33.3 p.c in Jason Kidd’s teaching debut. Across the NBA, there have already been 9 video games which were determined by 20 factors or extra by way of 4 days. Dallas had a relaxation day nonetheless, whereas that is the second night time of a back-to-back for Toronto. The Raptors had been 3-13 in these conditions final season.

Key focus: Rebounding

The Raptors finest guess for achievement is continuous to bludgeon groups on the glass. By way of two video games, Toronto has 40 (!!) offensive rebounds and an total +21. It is a nice change of tempo from final 12 months, the place Toronto constantly misplaced the battle on the boards. Scottie Barnes and Valuable Achiuwa are each averaging 11 rebounds by way of the primary two video games, and OG Anunoby is hauling in 4 a sport simply on the offensive alone. OG (7-35) and Fred VanVleet (8-30) have had tough taking pictures begins up to now, so proceed to crash the boards for second probability factors! The Raptors are averaging 17 extra shot makes an attempt than their opponents, getting off 97 makes an attempt vs Washington and 100 vs Boston. Extra is extra.

Recreation Data

Tip-off: 7:30pm EDT | TV: TSN4 | Radio: Sportsnet 590

Mavs Lineup

PG: Luka Doncic, Jalen Brunson, Trey Burke, Frank Ntilikina, Tyrell Terry

SG: Tim Hardaway Jr, Reggie Bullock, Josh Inexperienced

SF: Dorian Finney-Smith, Sterling Brown

PF: Kristaps Porzingis, Maxi Kleber, Eugene Omoruyi

C: Dwight Powell, Willie Cauley-Stein, Boban Marjanovic, Moses Brown

Raptors Lineup

Yuta Watanabe (calf) stays day-to-day. Pascal Siakam (shoulder) is out. We’ve already seen completely different beginning lineups for the primary two video games with Goran Dragic enjoying 12 minutes vs Boston, so it will stay fluid.

PG: Fred VanVleet, Goran Dragic, Dalano Banton, Malachi Flynn

SG: Gary Trent Jr, Svi Mykhailiuk, Isaac Bonga, David Johnson

SF: OG Anunoby, Justin Champagnie, Sam Dekker

PF: Scottie Barnes, Chris Boucher

C: Valuable Achiuwa, Khem Birch