Game 1: Wizards at Raptors

AIR CANADA CENTRE TIPOFF: 5:30 p.m. TV: Sportsnet One RADIO: TSN 1050

PROBABLE STARTERS

Toronto: Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, OG Anunoby, Serge Ibaka, Jonas Valanciunas Washington: John Wall, Bradley Beal, Otto Porter Jr, Markieff Morris, Marcin Gortat

KEY MATCHUP

Lowry vs. Wall Raptors fans don’t need to be reminded of the damage John Wall inflicted on Toronto’s defence when these teams met in the 2015 playoffs. The uberquick point guard averaged 17.3 points and 12.5 assists a game in a Washington sweep, mostly thanks to the inability of Toronto’s perimeter defenders, Kyle Lowry chief among them, to keep him from reeling off straight-line drives through the paint. Toronto’s defence is vastly improved since then but Wall, who missed 41 games to a knee injury this season, remains a dangerous force.

NEED TO KNOW

The Wizards lost reserve shooting guard Jodie Meeks to a 25-game suspension on Friday, after the NBA announced that Meeks violated the league’s anti-drug program by testing positive for the banned substances Ipamorelin and Growth Hormone Releasing Peptide-2. Meeks, who averaged about 15 minutes a game off the bench, will be ineligible for the playoffs.

UP NEXT

Game 2: Tuesday, at Toronto, 7 p.m.