The Blazers just finished a 4-game homestand, while the Raptors closed a 4-game road trip. Both teams were coming off wins over Western Conference’s bottom feeders.
Both teams are in the NBA’s top 10 in points per game, as well as opponent points per game. Both teams are waiting on two big men to return from injury.
And both team’s coaches, Terry Stotts and Dwane Casey, have worked together in previous coaching stops. They were both assistants to George Karl in Seattle, and both won a championship under Rick Carlisle in Dallas.
Portland and Toronto even compete for which team is truly “King of the North.