**Update Patrick Patterson will be sidelined with a right ulnar collateral sprain for at least a week.
Tonight the Toronto Raptors look to attain their ninth win in eleven games against a tough Minnesota Timberwolves team lead by All-Star power-forward Kevin Love. The Raptors are coming off a convincing 99-87 win against the Kings Friday night where some familiar faces returned to the Air Canada Centre. The Raptors head into tonight’s matchup a half game above the Chicago Bulls as they defeated the Miami Heat earlier this afternoon. This should be a good matchup as the T’Wolves have a winning record (31-30), they’re a very good ball club in an extremely competitive conference. For the Raptors to come out with a win tonight, they’re going to need a complete team effort in Minnesota.
Cage’s Keys to the Game (coincidentally they’re also song titles):
No Love
This one seems obvious enough, as Kevin Love is an absolute stat sheet stuffer. He has the ability to hurt the Raptors from virtually anywhere on the court depending on how he chooses to assert himself. The Raptors are going to have to crowd K-Love and run him off the three-point line. Furthermore Toronto can’t afford to fall asleep on the glass because he’s averaging 13.2 rebounds per game, and if allowed the room, Love will prevail.
Let’s Get Physical
Kevin Love isn’t the only big man the Raptors need to worry about. Nikola Pekovic is back and he is a mammoth of a man. Toronto will have to throw multiple bodies on the floor to contain that space-eater, so expect to see stints from Chuck Hayes due to his extremely low centre of gravity. The Raptors will need physicality from all positions as the T’Wolves have a thin backcourt in comparison to Toronto. With the shooters that Minnesota have, expect them to operate through a lot of motion offense, this is where bumping the like of Kevin Martin and Alexey Sved will be important to slow them down.
Get Back!
The Raptors will have to set the tone tonight defensively. The T’Wolves have Ricky Rubio and K-Love; two players who are adept at throwing the long outlet pass. The Raptors may need to lay off crashing the boards on their possessions and building their offence through defence as opposed to second chance offensive possessions. Minnesota has a relatively quick backcourt, with capable shooters at all positions. Toronto needs to stop Minnesota’s transition game; they have a tough matchup ahead of them tonight, but they were able to keep the T’Wolves at bay last time out
X-Factor:
The X-Factor for tonight’s matchup is Mr.Heart-and-Soul himself, Amir Johnson. He’ll have the chance to defend Kevin Love tonight, so his effort will be essential to the Raptors coming out with a victory. The Raptors don’t need Amir to score or do anything out of the ordinary in this game. What they need is the same old, heart-on-his-sleeve, leave it all out on the court, hustle-till-I-die, Amir Johnson.
