NBA.com Preview | Game Notes

Probable Starters

TOR – Jerryd Bayless (G), DeMar DeRozan (G), James Johnson (F), Andrea Bargnani (F), Aaron Gray (C).
MIL– BrandonJennings (G), Carlos Delfino (G), Tobias Harris (F), Ersan Ilyasova (F), Drew Gooden (C)

Key Injuries

TOR – Jose Calderon (right ankle sprain) – out
MIL – Stephen Jackson (sore right hamstring) – day-to-day, Shaun Livingston (left ankle sprain), Luc Mbah a Moute (right knee soreness) – day-to-day, Andrew Bogut (left ankle fracture) – out.

A Costly Loss

Jose Calderon suffered a nasty ankle sprain against the Pistons on Saturday night and ...

Spot on from our #RTZ Tweet of the Night Winner @MegiMK.

On a night where the Raptors saw the return of Andrea Bargnani, the result was one of the worst losses of the season in an ugly 105-86 blowout against the Pistons.

Bargnani understandably showed a little rust after a 20-game layoff  and his return seemed to result in a somewhat disjointed start by his team offensively, but what has to be much more disconcerting was the Raptors’ overall compete level.

With two days to prepare for Saturday’s contest and coming off one ...

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Jack Armstrong has answers to more of your recent Raptors questions.

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More From Jack On: Who’s Surprised? | Jose Calderon’s Future | Use of Zone Defence

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Voices Heard Media

Big thanks to @SMazalas who sent along more on the latest unique look for Raptors first-round pick Jonas Valanciunas pictured below, which he wore in support of Red Nose Day on a Lithuanian news broadcast.

“To be honest, I hadn’t heard about the Red Nose Day before, but I really liked the idea. It’s really nice to know that you can help the kids,” Valanciunas told LithuaniaBasketball.com. “It was fun. I’ll be back here in some twenty years.”

After a lengthy absence from game action, Andrea Bargnani is almost back… for the second time.

Bargnani, who has missed the last 20 games after he aggravated a strained left calf injury in the Raptors’ double OT win in Utah on January 25th, confirmed it after Thursday’s practice at ACC. Depending on how he responds to the first practice and another on Friday, the team’s leading scorer should return either Saturday in Detroit or at ACC Sunday against the Bucks.

Bargnani’s second setback came well into a second game in as many ...

An astute observation from our #RTZ Tweet of the Night winner @BarryMRubin, which certainly held up as DeRozan turned in a potent performance at both ends of the floor in the Raptors’ 116-98 win over the visiting Rockets at ACC on Wednesday.

DeRozan’s recent resurgence, with six outings of at least 20 points in his last eight games after a very tough start, has been emblematic of this years Raptors, who are proving to be increasingly difficult to pin down and rounding into form.

“I think this is probably the most games ...

Andrea Bargnani is nearing a return to the Raptors.

Head coach Dwane Casey did not offer an exact return date for the team’s leading scorer after Wednesday morning’s shootaround at ACC, but did reveal that Bargnani is expected to be a full participant in Thursday’s practice. How Bargnani’s calf responds to that full contact workout (and likely another practice on Friday), will be key to determining if he can return at some point this weekend with games in Detroit on Saturday or at home Sunday against the Bucks.

In other lineup news, ...