With a potential NBA In-Season Tournament advancement on the line, the Brooklyn Nets host the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night at Barclays Center in the first meeting this season between these Atlantic Division rivals.

The Nets, who need a win to have any shot at getting to the tournament’s knockout round, continue a five-game homestand, which started with a convincing win over the Heat on Saturday. 

Brooklyn remains toward the bottom of the Atlantic, but the Nets focus is developing their younger players like Mikal Bridges, who is averaging 22 points, six rebounds and four assists per game this season.

The Raptors, who have already been eliminated from the In-Season Tournament, have seen plenty of ups and downs this season, but they have been trending up recently with wins over the Pacers and Bulls and a pair of three-point defeats to the Celtics and Cavs.

Toronto’s offense struggled at the start of the season, but it has picked up the scoring by eclipsing the 120-point mark six times in November.

Brooklyn pulled off the four-game sweep of Toronto in the 2022-23 regular season, while three of those matchups finished under the total.

With a victory Tuesday and a Boston loss to the Bulls, the Nets would win Group C and advance to the knockout round. There are other more-complicated scenarios, but they all involve winning Tuesday.

That could be a tough task with all of their injuries. Ben Simmons and Dennis Smith Jr. remain sidelined; Cameron Johnson, while upgraded to doubtful, likely will sit out again; and Nic Claxton and Cam Johnson are both nicked up and questionable to play.

Toronto’s leading scorer, Pascal Siakam, has seen two of his highest-scoring games this season come on the road with 36 points at Indiana and 31 at Dallas, both Toronto wins.

Despite Brooklyn’s incentive to win, overcoming their injuries could be too much.

Let’s back Siakam and the Raptors on the road.

Pick: Raptors +1.5 (-110, FanDuel)