Raptors Cage

Game Day Preview: First-place Raptors continue homestand against Magic

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Raptors vs Magic
John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

The league-leading Toronto Raptors (6-1) look to extend their best start in franchise history as they host the Orlando Magic (2-5) Tuesday night (7:30 p.m. EST) at the Air Canada Centre. Off the heels of a 120-88 beatdown of the Philadelphia 76ers Sunday evening, the Raptors are riding a four-game win streak and show no signs of slowing down. They will take on an Orlando team that dropped the first of their three-game roadie against the Brooklyn Nets by a score of 104-96 on Sunday. This tilt marks the third of Toronto’s seven-game homestand.

The Raptors have been beating the teams they are “supposed to” and the Magic—based on talent, stats, record and the fact that they are still reeling from the Dwight Howard trade three seasons ago—fall under that category. The Raptors already defeated the Magic once this season at the Amway Center. Toronto’s 108-95 win over Orlando 10 days ago marked their eighth straight victory against this team.

Amir Johnson is feeling “fine” and went through a full practice yesterday. He may suit up tonight.

Cage’s Keys to the Game

Focus on the Task at Hand
The Chicago Bulls are coming to town Thursday night in a game that will be featured on TNT. That said, it’s not hard to overlook the Magic tonight. But the Raptors shouldn’t. This is a classic trap game. They must take their opponent seriously—at least until they build a comfortable lead. The starting unit has proven they can do this:

— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) November 10, 2014

Get Up Early and Keep Rolling
The Raptors are scoring a league-leading 107.4 points per game. They are allowing 95.9 PPG—that’s a +11.5-point differential, but who’s counting? In Orlando’s pair of wins, they won by a combined three points. If the Raptors can get off to another hot start (+13 points after the first quarter against the Sixers, +10 against the Wizards), this one will be over early.

X-Factor: DeMar DeRozan
DeRozan scored a game-high 26 points against the Magic on November 1st. He’s been scoring in that ballpark at a highly efficient clip (15-25 FGM) over the first two games of this homestand, and really, who on the Magic is going to stop him from doing that again? The All-Star probably won’t play more than 30 minutes, but he won’t need more than that to make an impact and fill up the stat sheet with the way he’s been shooting.

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