Another undermanned game tonight, With VanVleet, Harris, Watson continuing to be out, Lowry doubtful, and Siakam resting on the first game of a back-to-back. Khem Birch is expected to join the team in New York tomorrow and to be available for that game.
If the Raptors were trying to still make the postseason, it would make more sense to play Siakam tonight and rest him tomorrow when Birch will be in the lineup, but resting Siakam against Cleveland looks a lot like a tank choice given that Cleveland is a team Toronto's jockying with in the tank standings.
Right now 538 is projecting Toronto to finish with 30 wins and 8th worst overall record, but with Cleveland, Washington, and Orlando all having much easier opponents the rest of the way, a bottom five finish isn't out of the question.
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