{"id":703127,"date":"2026-04-07T11:06:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T11:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/703127\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T11:06:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T11:06:23","slug":"how-torontos-frontcourt-injuries-could-decide-playoff-seeding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/703127\/","title":{"rendered":"How Toronto\u2019s Frontcourt Injuries Could Decide Playoff Seeding"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Toronto Raptors are inching closer to the end of the regular season<\/a> and the stakes couldn’t be higher. <\/p>\n

Heading into Tuesday’s matchup inside Scotiabank Arena, the Raptors (43-35)<\/a> are in the thick of things in a crowded Eastern Conference playoff race. It’s the first half of a two-game series against the 10th-seeded Miami Heat (41-37) that could dictate whether Toronto goes to the Play-In Tournament or climbs into a guaranteed top-six spot.<\/p>\n

Here’s a look at everything you need to know ahead of the matchup:<\/p>\n

Miami Heat vs. Toronto Raptors Game Details\"Toronto<\/p>\n

Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes knocks the ball away from Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. | Rhona Wise-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Date: Tuesday, April 7, 2026Time: 7:30 PM ETLocation: Scotiabank Arena | Toronto, ON, CanadaTV Channel: TSN SportsLive Stream: Fubo (free trial available), NBA App, YouTube TV, or Hulu + Live TV.Heat vs. Raptors Injury Report<\/p>\n

Team<\/p>\n

Player<\/p>\n

Status<\/p>\n

Injury<\/p>\n

Heat<\/p>\n

PG Tyler Herro<\/p>\n

Probable<\/p>\n

Personal Reasons<\/p>\n

Heat<\/p>\n

SG Norman Powell<\/p>\n

Probable<\/p>\n

Illness<\/p>\n

Raptors<\/p>\n

PG Immanuel Quickley<\/p>\n

Questionable<\/p>\n

Foot<\/p>\n

Raptors<\/p>\n

PF Collin Murray-Boyles<\/p>\n

Questionable<\/p>\n

Quad<\/p>\n

Raptors<\/p>\n

C Sandro Mamukelashvili<\/p>\n

Questionable<\/p>\n

Knee<\/p>\n

Raptors point guard Immanuel Quickley is questionable with plantar fasciitis. If he\u2019s out, look for Scottie Barnes to be the main facilitator for the Raptors. However, Quickley’s upgrade on the injury report is a positive sign for the Raptors and should be a good sign that he’s getting better before the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Murray-Boyles is back on the injury report with a quad contusion, while Mamukelashvili is also on there with knee soreness. Having one or both of them out would be a major hit to the Raptors frontcourt, allowing Bam Adebayo to feast in the post.<\/p>\n

The Heat should have a full roster with Herro and Powell both listed as “probable.”<\/p>\n

Key Matchup: Bam Adebayo vs. Raptors Bigs\"Miami<\/p>\n

Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo passes the basketball to a teammate against the Toronto Raptors. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The health of Toronto’s frontcourt will dictate a huge part of the game between them and Miami. Adebayo has cooled off since his 83-point performance against the Washington Wizards last month, but he could heat up once again against the Raptors if Murray-Boyles and Mamukelashvili aren’t able to go.<\/p>\n

The Raptors will rely heavily on Jakob Poeltl to get things done, but the team exposed itself in the post in the last week or so. Against the Kings, the Raptors were out-rebounded 48-32 and gave up 19 offensive boards. In their latest loss against the Boston Celtics<\/a>, the Raptors struggled to protect the paint, surrendering 76 points in the loss.<\/p>\n

Poeltl will have a chance to redeem himself with heavy minutes strictly devoted to containing Adebayo after struggling against the Celtics.<\/p>\n

Due to the injury report, the Raptors are one-point underdogs<\/a>, according to the FanDuel Sportsbook. In order to combat it, the Raptors need to crash the glass and make it a full team effort like the Heat usually do, otherwise they could drop a very important game at home.<\/p>\n

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.<\/p>\n

Sign up for our\u00a0free newsletter<\/a>, which will bring all Toronto Raptors On SI stories every weekday to your email.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Toronto Raptors are inching closer to the end of the regular season and the stakes couldn’t be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":703128,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3770],"tags":[7,6,681,680,476,3820],"class_list":{"0":"post-703127","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto-raptors","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-raptors","11":"tag-toronto","12":"tag-toronto-raptors","13":"tag-torontoraptors"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116363107765411973","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=703127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703127\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/703128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=703127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=703127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=703127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}