Brooklyn Nets vs. Toronto Raptors preview: D’Angelo Russell returns

He’ll be wearing No. 1 and be ready for his next chapter in Brooklyn. D’Angelo Russell returns.

Now that we got that out of the way, it’s time to change not just the calendar from 2024 to 2025 but Brooklyn’s roster. D’Angelo Russell, last seen battling Ben Simmons in the opening round of the 2019 playoffs, will return to the black-and-white. He along with Maxwell Lewis, the young wing, will be available for the first time following Sunday’s blockbuster trade that sent Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton to Los Angeles for Russell, Lewis and three future second rounders.

They will face a Raptors team that of late has been historically bad — horrible actually — in losing 11 straight games. As Sportsnet Canada put it on New Year’s Eve, after a Raptors 125-71 loss to the Boston Celtics:

Things somehow got worse for the Toronto Raptors on New Year’s Eve in Boston. It seems impossible. After all, this is a team that in the space of a week set a franchise record for points scored by an opponent (155 by Memphis), a franchise record for turnovers in a home game (31 against Atlanta) and became the first team in 35 years to give up 430 points to opponents in a three-game stretch.

After suffering a tough one-point loss against the Orlando Magic, the Nets will attempt to regain their confidence. But not too much confidence… New year, still tanking!

Where To Watch

Check out the action at 7:30 PM on the YES Network and NBA League Pass.

Injury Report

Bojan Bogdanovic, De’Anthony Melton, Cam Thomas, and Trendon Watford are all out while Jaylen Martin and Dariq Whitehead are on Long Island duties. Ziaire Williams after initially being listed as questionable is also unavailable, his left knee sprain still bothering him. Thomas’ absence is more about injury management than his hamstring strain. After missing 13 straight, the Nets don’t want him playing back-to-back and the Nets travel to Milwaukee after tonight. The big news, however, is D’Angelo Russell and Maxwell Lewis’ availability.

For the Raptors, Immanuel Quickly and RJ Barrett will be out.

The Game

D’Angelo Russell was rescued from the Lakers once before, back in 2017 when Sean Marks traded Brook Lopez to L.A. for the then 22-year-old point guard. Magic Johnson, then Lakers GM, wanted him gone and said so, partly because of a feud between him and Nick Young. It was ugly but the result was the 2018-19 season.

This time is nowhere near as (melo)dramatic. Rookie coach J.J. Redick switched starting point guards, sending Russell to the bench in favor of Austin Reaves. For the season, he’s averaging 12.4 points and 6.3 assists in 26.3 minutes, a career low. By all accounts, D’Lo accepted the demotion with grace. Now, after a very good season in 2023-24, at least on offense, he’s likely to get minutes again with Brooklyn, perhaps with an ability to recapture his 2023-24 season in which he broke the Lakers franchise record for 3-pointers (226) and shot 46/42/83 on his way to an 18.0 point, 6.3-assist season.

In talking to reporters at shootaround early Wednesday, D’Lo said it was good be back.

“It’s a good feeling, honestly, to go back somewhere you’re comfortable, somewhere you know the ins and outs a little bit,” he said. “See some familiar faces. It kind of makes the process a little easier to adjust to. So I’m just grateful for that.”

He also said he has no hard feelings about how things ended the first time: a aign-and-trade with the Golden State Warriors in the aftermath of the Nets signing Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan. He had hoped to stick around.

“As soon as I left,” he said when asked when he got over any bad feelings, “I understood the business of it because I was going somewhere that laid out an opportunity as well. So there was no spite, no hard feelings there. Nothing to really get over.”

Coming into Wednesday night, the Raptors are not just coming off that ugly 54 point loss to the Boston Celtics, they’re playing miserable basketball. Tanking doesn’t begin to describe it. The Boston game was pretty much the epitome of how the Raptors season is going thus far. With a record of 7-26, Toronto sits as one of the few teams in the league that make the Nets look good. In the last matchup, The Nets were able to win 101-94 led by a 33 point performance by Cam Johnson.

Making things worse is that the Raptors defense against point guards is shockingly bad and D’Lo is looking to make a good second impression.

Jersey merry-go-round

You may have heard or seen in old movies that old line from stadium venders hawking baseball scorecards. “Getcha scorecards here. Can’t tell the players without a scorecard.” Well, that’s certainly true tonight. not only did two players leave to make way for two new players, three players switched numbers on us, mainly to accommodate Russell’s desire to don No. 1 again.

Zaire Williams, who had been wearing No. 1, agreed to give it to D’Lo and instead return to No. 8 which he wore in Memphis. De’Anthony Melton who had been assigned No. 8 after Jacky Cui was waived, will now wear No. 14. Maxwell Lewis will wear No. 27. And in case you’ve forgotten, Reece Beekman, who like Melton was acquired in the Dennis Schroder trade, wears No. 4. Thanks to Etienne Catalan, basketball numerologist, who was first with the News Tuesday.

In talking to reporters at shootaround Wednesday, Russell admitted he had engaged in some business dealings with Williams but declined to say how much he paid.

“It wasn’t easy for him. I just tried to work with him, whatever I could do to get the number and fall back into what I know.”

Players to Watch: Scottie Barnes

As one of the few bright spots of the team, Scottie Barnes is one of the most impressive young players in the NBA. With averages of 19.8 PPG and eight rebounds, Barnes is always a lock to fill up the stat sheet. Barnes will be a tough cover for the Nets, but a 3-point shooting percentage of 28% will be his kryptonite and hopefully put less pressure on the defense. Otherwise in the tanking competition, the Raps are winners. Currently, per Tankathon, they have the third worst record and a 14% chance at the overall No. 1 while Brooklyn remains in seventh with a 7.5% shot.

From the Vault

Never ever miss an opportunity to show greatest comeback in Brooklyn Nets history, their late night 2019 return from a 28-point deficit in Sacramento engineered by D’Angelo Russell. Everyone remembers Rondae Hollis-Jefferson’s acrobatic back-to-the basket reverse lay-up that won the game, but it was D’Lo who led the charge, scoring 44 points, including 27 in the fourth.

Tank or no tank, wouldn’t you love to see that happen again?