Warriors at Raptors
THE STORY: The Golden State Warriors have been uneven during their six-game road swing. They'll look to end on an up note as they face the struggling Toronto Raptors on Sunday night. The Warriors are 2-2 on the trek, with narrow wins over Phoenix and Atlanta negated by one-sided losses in Indiana and Philadelphia. They'll face a Toronto team that surrendered a whopping 24 points off turnovers in a narrow loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night. Despite the carelessness with the basketball, Toronto still had a chance to win but missed two key shots down the stretch.
TV: 6 p.m. ET, Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, Rogers Sportsnet
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (14-19): On the 50th anniversary of Wilt Chamberlain's NBA-record 100-point explosion, high-scoring Golden State fell 17 points short of equaling him. David Lee and Monta Ellis combined for 44 points but the rest of the team shot just 36.5 percent while allowing the Sixers to reach the 100-point plateau for the first time in 20 games. After the game, head coach Mark Jackson criticized his team's lack of effort. "We have to be on all the time," he said. "We have to be aggressive. We have to play with force."
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (11-25): Jerryd Bayless may be back in the Toronto lineup, but he isn't close to being 100 percent. The veteran guard is battling a sore left ankle that has limited his mobility, though he looked good with an 18-point performance in Friday's loss. Bayless told reporters after the game that cutting remains a struggle, and added that he may not be at full health until after the season. The 23-year-old is averaging 10.2 points and three assists in just over 21 minutes per game.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. The Warriors annihilated the Raptors 138-100 in their previous meeting last March 25, scoring a season-high 84 points in the first half.
2. Raptors G Jose Calderon has recorded six or more assists in 10 straight games.
3. Ellis averages 24.1 points on 58 percent shooting in seven career games vs. Toronto.