Trail Blazers at Raptors
The Portland Trail Blazers look to run their winning streak to six games in an afternoon visit to Toronto to take on the Raptors Sunday. The Blazers have not won six straight in nearly three years but this season's team appears to have a different makeup, as Mo Williams noted after Friday's win at Boston. "We kept the pedal to the metal," Williams said of the 109-96 win over the Celtics, "And that's the sign of a good team."
Toronto has struggled to find consistency this season, without back-to-back wins through 10 games. The Raptors last fell to Chicago on Friday, losing 96-80 at home, despite 37 points from DeMar DeRozan, which matched his career high. "It's a long season. It's a marathon," coach Dwane Casey told the Toronto Star. "And it's how you go through these games and bounce back from these types of games that identifies you."
TV: 1 p.m. ET, CSN Northwest (Portland), Sportsnet (Toronto)
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (7-2): Portland has been dominant on the glass this season, outrebounding opponents bu an average of 12 per game during their winning streak. The Blazers' rebounding differential of plus-4.3 ranks third in the NBA, trailing only Houston and Indiana. LaMarcus Aldridge's 21.9 points per game puts him just behind the league's top ten scorers.
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (4-6): DeRozan and Rudy Gay, who notched 20, were the only Raptors to reach double figures against the Bulls. Kyle Lowry struggled, shooting just 3-of-15 from the field and 0-for-7 from 3-point range. Gay and DeRozan lead Toronto, with each averaging 19.7 points.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Portland has beaten Toronto in eight of the last nine meetings.
2. The Raptors are 9-4 in their last 13 home games against Western Conference opponents.
3. Toronto is 1-5 on the season when scoring 95 points or less.