Kings at Raptors
THE STORY: The Toronto Raptors will go into the trivia books as
the first team to lose to the 2011-12 edition of the Washington Wizards.
The beleaguered Raptors won't have much time to dwell on the defeat, as
they return home Wednesday for the finale of a
three-games-in-three-nights stretch against the Sacramento Kings.
Toronto had a strong opening quarter in Washington but fell flat on its
face afterward, allowing 29 second-quarter points on the way to a 93-78
defeat at the hands of the previously 0-8 Wizards. Andrea Bargnani was
the lone bright spot for the Raptors, scoring 22 points – just three
fewer than the rest of the starting five combined. The Kings come in
still looking for their first road victory of the season. They had no
chance of finding it Tuesday night as they fell behind by 10 points at
halftime, then were trounced in the third quarter of a 112-85 rout at
the hands of the Philadelphia 76ers. DeMarcus Cousins remains one of the
only players worth watching in Sacramento, recording team highs in
points (17) and rebounds (10) in Tuesday's lopsided defeat.
TV: Comcast SportsNet California, Rogers Sportsnet
ABOUT THE KINGS (3-7):
Sacramento came into the week knowing victories would be hard to come
by, but it probably envisioned a better start to its five-game road
trip. The Kings shot less than 40 percent from the field, but struggled
even worse on the defensive end, allowing Philadelphia to hit on 56.6
percent of its shots while forcing just 10 turnovers. Not even the
insertion of rookie Jimmer Fredette into the starting lineup helped – he
had just seven points in 24 minutes.
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (4-6):
Toronto won't do well this season if DeMar DeRozan continues to shoot
the way he has over the past five days. The third-year swingman is in
one of the worst slumps of his young career, shooting just 26.1 percent
(12 for 47) over his previous four contests. He has also been a black
hole from beyond the arc, going 0-for-6 since hitting a career-best five
3-pointers in a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Jan. 4.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. The home team has won nine of the last 10 meetings between the clubs, scoring an average of 110 points in the process.
2.
DeRozan has averaged 18.3 points on 58.3 percent shooting in four games
against Sacramento – his second-best totals against any NBA team.
3. The Kings have dropped their first four road games by an average of 23.3 points.