Toronto Raptors game previews between November 7 and November 13, including games against: Charlotte Hornets, Oklahoma City Thunder, New York Knicks.

Week 2 Summary (Last Week)

With three straight wins to start week 2, things were looking great for the Raptors. For the Sunday game against the Kings, however, Jonas Valanciunas was out with a knee contusion. This meant for bad news for the Raps’, as they truly just couldn’t deal with Boogie inside. Overall, not a bad week for Toronto, despite letting the Nuggets climb back to make it close, and the ugly loss to Sacramento on Sunday.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Wednesday, 9 November 2016 at 08:00 PM ET Away

The Raptors will get two days off, and travel to Oklahoma to face the Thunder in their first of two matchups this year. Last season, the series was split 1-1, but there was a key variable that is missing from this year’s Thunder team This key variable - Kevin Durant, led his team in the two games versus the Raps’ with 27 points in the Thunder loss, and 34 in the Thunder win.

But sometimes, when one variable goes down (or… leaves), there may be a dependent variable that rises (or… just goes berserk). This dependent variable is Russell Westbrook. He is a maniac on the basketball court, but has such an unreal amount of control. OKC still has a pretty solid team, with Russ, Steven Adams, Oladipo, Kanter, Roberson and a relatively deep bench.

Although I don’t have a solid amount of “evidence”, I weirdly have a bad feeling about this game. I see it being close for the most part, but OKC running away with it at the end. With JV’s health on the line, and the way we matchup with OKC, I don’t see us coming away with the win.

Score Prediction

Oklahoma 103 - Toronto 93

Charlotte Hornets

Friday, 11 November 2016 at 07:00 PM ET Away

After a Wednesday night battle in OKC, the Raptors take a night off, then they fly to Charlotte to take on the Hornets for the first time of the season. Last year, the Raptors went 2-1 against the Hornets. Their one loss to them came in the form of an overtime loss. For the dedicated fan, what key moment impacted that overtime loss against the Hornets?

a - Demar Derozan put Spencer Hawes on one of the nastiest posters seen to man.

b - The Raptors called a timeout one second before DD hit (what would have been) the game winner.

c - Jeremy Lin dropped 42 points, Kyle Lowry dropped 37, along with a Kemba Walker game winner in OT.

d - Frank Kaminsky went off for a career-high 27 points, along with a clutch three to tie it up in the last minute of regulation.

Answer?

Ugh. Anyways, with that out of the way, this should be a great Friday night matchup between some of the two top teams in East. It’s tough to decide who will come out on top in this matchup, but I believe it will truly come down to Lowry containing Kemba.

Overall, the Raptors wing depth will be too much for Charlotte, and they should come out on top by at least 6 or 7.

Score Prediction

Toronto 97 - Charlotte 86

New York Knicks

Saturday, 12 November 2016 at 07:30 PM ET Home

After a two-game road trip, the Raptors go back--to-back, with a home game against the Knicks. I would bring up the season series between these two teams from last year, but this is a COMPLETELY different team from last year.

The back-to-back will be tough, and Lowry will have a tough week, going up against Westbrook, Kemba and now Rose. Hopefully the wear-and-tear isn’t too much, and the Raptors can put down this newly assembled Knicks team.

On New York’s side, you can never really tell with a team like this. On the Raptors front, you feel pretty confident going into this game, but with Rose, Carmelo, Porzingis, Noah and even Brandon Jennings off the bench, any of them can get hot and any moment.

On the downside, for New York, I believe them to have an extremely weak bench. This is what will give the Raptors the edge in Saturday night’s showdown. It’s going to be close early on, but I think the Raptors bench will be too much for the Knicks bench, and they’ll run away with it in the end.

Score Prediction

Toronto 105 - New York 89