Spurs at Raptors
The Toronto Raptors are fighting through a series of key injuries but still manage to find their way into the win column with some regularity. The Raptors will try to put together back-to-back victories when they host former franchise star DeMar DeRozan and the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.
Toronto is without key rotation players Pascal Siakam (groin), Marc Gasol (hamstring) Norman Powell (shoulder) and Fred VanVleet (hamstring), but Siakam, Powell and Gasol all participated at least somewhat in practice on Friday. "The most important thing for me was being able to see if I can be explosive and move laterally," Siakam, who is not expected to return Sunday but could play next week, told reporters. "I can definitely run straight on the floor, but the problem is figuring out if you can move and be explosive." The Raptors could use a scorer like DeRozan, who is working on a remarkable 10-game run in which he is averaging 27.2 points on 63.8 percent shooting from the field and 89.7 percent from the free-throw line. DeRozan matched a season high with 36 points on 11-of-18 shooting on Friday, but it wasn't enough to push the Spurs over the top in a 134-121 loss at Memphis.
TIME: 6 p.m. ET. TV: FS Southwest, Sportsnet One
ABOUT THE SPURS (16-21): San Antonio began the four-game road trip with a 129-114 triumph at Boston on Wednesday and kept pace with the Grizzlies on Friday behind DeRozan, who leads the team in scoring (22.4 points), assists (five) and shooting percentage (53.4). DeRozan's relentless attacking of the paint is made possible with a shift from All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge, who is averaging 4.5 3-point attempts and connecting at a 57.8-percent clip from beyond the arc over the last 10 contests. Aldridge went 5-of-9 from beyond the arc in Friday's loss, marking the fourth time in the last seven games that he knocked down at least four 3-pointers.
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (25-13): Toronto traded wins and losses over its last seven games and is coming off a 112-110 overtime triumph at Charlotte on Wednesday. The injuries pressed Patrick McCaw and Terence Davis into the starting lineup, and the two responded with a combined 36 points on 14-of-26 shooting, 16 rebounds and 16 assists in the win. Power forward Serge Ibaka continues to step up with frontcourt partners Gasol and Siakam missing and posted his seventh consecutive double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds on Thursday.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Powell is expected to return on Sunday following an 11-game absence.
2. Aldridge is up to a career-high 40 3-pointers on the season, besting the mark of 37 he set with the 2014-15 Portland Trail Blazers.
3. The teams split the two-game series in each of the last two seasons, with the home team taking each meeting.