USATSI_15942902_168390270_lowres (1) — Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports

Underdog Raptors Will Need to Pull Some Upsets off to Stay in Playoff Chase

The Toronto Raptors will continue to be without Chris Boucher and Gary Trent Jr. as they look to pull off an upset of the Brooklyn Nets

Author:
Aaron Rose
Publish date:
Apr 27, 2021 12:24 PM EDT

The easy part of the schedule for the Toronto Raptors has come to an end and things are about to get a whole lot tougher.

Over the next seven days, the Raptors are going to play almost all of the NBA's best teams. It starts on Tuesday when the Raptors welcome the Brooklyn Nets down to Tampa. After that, it'll be off to the West Coast to take on the Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz, and both Los Angeles teams.

If the Raptors are going to sneak into the play-in tournament and beat out the Washington Wizards who currently sit one game up on Toronto for the 10th seed, the Raptors are going to have to pull off some upsets. Tuesday night, however, probably isn't going to be one of those nights.

Even with their starters all ready to go, the Raptors are six-point underdogs on the second half of a back-to-back, according to Covers. The Nets have returned Kevin Durant and will have at least two-third of their three-headed offensive beast that's currently missing James Harden. Between Durant, Kyrie Irving, Joe Harris, and Jeff Green, it'll take a lot for Toronto to pull of the upset.

Injury wise, Gary Trent Jr. remains out with a lower left leg contusion. Chris Boucher is out and isn't expected to be back anytime soon, and Paul Watson Jr. continues to deal with left knee tendinitis that will keep him sidelined.

Brooklyn will be Nicholas Claxton, Bruce Brown, former Raptors 905 star Alize Johnson, Chris Chiozza, and Spencer Dinwiddie, in addition to Harden.