Raptors at Nets
THE STORY: The Toronto Raptors try to come out ahead when they close a five-game road trip in New Jersey on Sunday. Toronto is 2-2 on this away swing, losing 96-81 to the Denver Nuggets on Friday. The Raptors were again without star forward Andrea Bargnani, who is out indefinitely with a calf strain. They are 0-7 without the sharp-shooting Italian in the lineup this season. The Nets have pulled ahead of Toronto in the Atlantic Division basement, winning three of their last four games, including a 97-90 overtime shocker against the division-leading Philadelphia 76ers.Point guard Deron Williams seems to be willing the Nets to victory, totaling 61 points and 21 assists in the past two games. New Jersey edged Toronto 97-85 on the road back on Jan. 6, thanks to 15 3-pointers.
TV: 6 p.m. ET, YES, TSN2.
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (6-14): With Bargnani out, Toronto is missing a good chunk of its scoring punch. The Raptors are leaning on their improved defense to carry them for the next few weeks. New head coach Dwane Casey installed some new schemes on defense, including zone packages. Toronto struggled with the zones to start the year, but Casey told the media his players are starting to feel more comfortable with the sets. It showed Friday as the Raptors held Denver – the NBA’s highest scoring team – to 96 points on 46 percent shooting, after the Nuggets have posted an average score of nearly 106 points a night.
ABOUT THE NETS (7-13): New Jersey’s frontcourt is shrinking. The Nets, who are already without starting center Brook Lopez until February with a broken foot, could also be missing backup Mehmet Okur again after he sat out Friday’s win over the Cleveland Cavaliers with back spasms. Undersized center Sheldon Williams has had to fill in at center while 7-footer Johan Petro, who only plays sparingly, has had to log major minutes off the bench.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. The Raptors and Nets have split their all-time series, with each team winning 31 games. However, New Jersey has just three wins in their last 10 meetings.
2. Nets guard Anthony Morrow has been on fire since draining six 3-pointers in the first meeting with the Raptors. Before that game, Morrow was scoring just over eight points a night. Since then, he’s averaging more than 15 points.
3. The Raptors vs. Nets isn’t the sexiest NBA matchup, but would you buy a ticket for a penny? Ticket exchange website Stub Hub had upper-bowl tickets selling for this game for just one cent.