Starting on Thursday night, the Eastern Conference play-in favorites, the Washington Wizards and the Toronto Raptors, will play two games against each other.
Going into Thursday’s matchup, the ninth-place Raptors hold a one-game advantage over the 10th-place Wizards. Saturday’s second matchup is also in Washington.
The games will be the teams’ first of the season.
Last season, Toronto defeated the Wizards in three of four games, and it has won each of the previous four series. The Raptors have beaten the Wizards six times in a row at home, with their most recent victory coming on February 1, 2018.
Both teams are coming off victories over teams in the standings that are close to them.
Bradley Beal scored 37 points, a season-high, in the Wizards’ 119-116 road victory over the eighth-place Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday.
With 20 points from Pascal Siakam, the Raptors defeated the 11th-place Chicago Bulls 104-98 on Tuesday at home.
The Raptors defeated the Bulls 2-1 in the season series, giving them a chance to tie the game if necessary. The matchup between the Raptors and Wizards will also be influenced by that.
Before winning the hard-fought game in Atlanta, the Wizards had lost two straight.
The Raptors released Juancho Hernangomez prior to Tuesday’s game and signed veteran Will Barton, who had previously been acquired by the Wizards.
Barton, 32, is in his 11th season with Washington. He started none of his 40 games and had mostly dropped out of the rotation. He made 71 starts for the Denver Nuggets last season and averaged 14.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.9 assists. Additionally, he has appeared in 29 playoff games.
On Tuesday, Barton played four minutes without scoring and providing one assist.
