The Raptors will close out their road trip with a visit to Memphis: Preview, start time and more

Feb 5, 2023 - 3:00 PM

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The Raptors have spent the past few weeks on the road, passing through California, the Pacific North West, and even the South. They have just one more game on the road before heading back to Toronto — and while the weather may be better where they are, the vibes are... questionable.

Take the Raptors last game against Houston. Sure, they won — but it wasn’t pretty. They let the Rockets hang around the whole game despite them being 1) one of the worst teams in the league right now in terms of record and 2) missing two of their best players.

With the win, it still only brought the Raptors up to 24-30 on the season. One reason that Pascal Siakam may have been snubbed from the All-Star game for.

So they head to Memphis now to try and improve their road trip record to 4-3 before coming home just before the NBA Trade Deadline this week.

Rumours continue to swirl around the team and what they will do ahead of the deadline considering how the season has not gone according to plan. It seems like the Raptors will not act until the last moments though, so they will work with what they got for the Memphis game.

Watch the Toronto Raptors play the Memphis Grizzlies today at 6:00pm on TSN.

What can the Raptors depend on for this game?

Fred VanVleet

In the Houston game, Fred VanVleet dropped 32 points, four assists and five rebounds. In the game before that, against Utah, he scored 34 points, 10 assists and 12 rebounds scoring his second career triple double. He joins an elite group of Raptors players who scored multiple triple doubles as Raptors.

Though he is at the centre of a lot of Raptors trade rumours, he has been carrying a heavy load for this team. If he can put up another one of those performances for the Raptors, it will give them a good chance at winning this game.

The Bench

The Raptors NEED their bench to step up today. In the game against Houston, Chris Boucher came off the bench and scored 11 points. The other four players that came off the bench scored zero.

It is my personal opinion that the fault in this team is the bench. Agree or disagree, but look at the starters numbers vs the bench. In a game where bench players are getting 15+ minutes and not scoring any points — that’s a problem. They were given a chance and didn’t contribute.

I know that the bench is not being given much of a chance, but Flynn and Koloko were given 16 and 17 minutes in the last game. Scored zero. Problem!! Needs to be solved, but can a trade solve that?

Siakam Snub

Pascal Siakam was snubbed from the NBA All-Star Game earlier this week despite averaging 24.8 points, 8 rebounds and 6.2 assists. Still upset.

If the season was going better maybe this would motivate him to do even better... but the hopes for this season are all but in the gutter. It’s sad to say, but this might have been the blow that really makes this season a bust.

Yet, there is still All-NBA to think about. There are still games to be won. Siakam is in his prime, and the team seems intent on keeping him. We still have a lot of great Siakam to watch, even if it’s not this season.

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Watch the Raptors play the Grizzlies on TSN tonight at 6:00pm