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Raptors host Nuggets Monday night
By: Zach Cohen - StatFox
Published: 10/30/2016  at  12:06:00 PM
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DENVER NUGGETS (1-1)

at TORONTO RAPTORS (1-1)

Tip-off: Monday, 7:35 p.m. ET
Line: Toronto -6.5, Total: 204.0

The Raptors will be looking to improve to 2-1 with a home victory over the Nuggets on Monday.

The Nuggets hosted the Blazers on Saturday and lost 115-113 as 1.5-point underdogs. Denver blew that game and ultimately lost on a Damian Lillard floater with under a second to play. Still, the Nuggets should be encouraged with how they played against one of the stronger teams in the Western Conference. Denver is averaging 110.0 PPG in this young season, and has outrebounded its opponents by a total of 42 over the past two games. The Raptors, meanwhile, are coming off of a 94-91 loss as 2.5-point home underdogs against the Cavaliers on Friday night. They had, however, won their opener 109-91 as six-point home favorites against the Pistons. It is worth noting that Denver has gotten the best of Toronto over the years. The teams have split wins SU over the past three seasons, but the Nuggets are 3-1 ATS in those games. They also happen to be 10-9 SU and an impressive 14-5 ATS when playing the Raptors in Toronto since 1996. One interesting trend when looking at this game is the fact that Mike Malone is 8-0 ATS in road games after a home game where both teams scored 100 or more points as the coach of the Nuggets. SG Gary Harris (Groin) and PF Darrell Arthur (Knee) are listed as questionable for Denver, and Toronto will continue to be without PF Jared Sullinger (Foot) and PG Delon Wright (Shoulder) indefinitely.

The Nuggets are playing some fun basketball to watch, and the bulk of their offense actually comes from their gigantic duo of PF Nikola Jokic (14.0 PPG, 12.0 RPG, 2.0 SPG) and C Jusuf Nurkic (17.5 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 1.0 BPG). Both guys are a handful to guard for opposing teams, as Jokic is incredibly skilled and possesses the craftiness to score around the rim but also the shooting touch to step out and knock down the three. Nurkic, meanwhile, is all power and uses his body to finish at the rim and draw fouls. They’ll continue to be the focal point of this offense and guys like PG Emmanuel Mudiay (16.0 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 3.5 APG, 2.0 SPG) and SF Danilo Gallinari (16.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.5 SPG) will just need to do their best to play off of them. Mudiay has been excellent in the early going of this season, as he is getting to the line and making those trips count. Mudiay has attempted 14 free throws in two games this season, and the second-year player has knocked down 12 of those attempts. That’s a small sample size, but he hit just 67% of his free throws last year and can really take off if he continues to shoot it well from the line. Mudiay does, however need to be better from the field. He is shooting just 32.1% and that is not a number that will help his team in any way. Gallinari has suffered from the same problem, as he is shooting just 33.3% from the field through two games. Gallinari is far too good of a player to do that and needs to be better beginning on Monday.

The Raptors have not looked bad this season, but PG Kyle Lowry (13.5 PPG, 6.0 APG) certainly has. Lowry was an All-Star last season, but he needs to wake up and start playing like one soon for Toronto. Over the first two games, Lowry is just 8-for-29 from the field and has turned the ball over eight times. If he does not start hitting shots then Toronto might just dig itself into a hole early in the season. Fortunately for the Raptors, SG DeMar DeRozan (36.0 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 1.5 SPG) is doing everything he can to help this team win games. DeRozan poured in 40 points in Toronto’s opener and followed that performance up by dropping 32 points in the loss to Cleveland. One thing he’s doing well is taking advantage of opportunities at the free throw line. DeRozan has made all of his 14 attempts from the charity stripe this season and he’ll look to draw even more fouls against the Nuggets in this one. C Jonas Valanciunas (21.0 PPG, 14.0 RPG) is, however, the x-factor for Toronto on Monday. The Nuggets have one of the better frontcourts in basketball, so Valanciunas will need to come ready to play on both ends of the floor in this one. He has been a monster on the glass thus far, but needs to shoot better than the 3-for-15 he did against Cleveland on Friday.


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