Pelicans at Raptors
The Toronto Raptors look to continue their recent dominance over the New Orleans Pelicans when the two teams face off at the Air Canada Centre on Sunday. The Raptors have won the last six games in the series - scoring 102 or more points in each of the last four meetings - and hope to bounce back from a rough stretch that has seen them lose six of their last eight games. Toronto is coming off a 110-89 setback to the Atlanta Hawks and looks to avoid its fourth loss during its six-game homestand.
New Orleans missed an opportunity to string together its first two-game winning streak since mid-December after falling to the Philadelphia 76ers 96-81. The Pelicans - who were missing Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday on Friday - have lost four of their last six and have been held to 85 points or fewer twice during that span as they hope to beat the Raptors for the first time since Jan. 17, 2011. New Orleans has dropped six of its last seven on the road and aims for its first victory north of the border since Dec. 4, 2008.
TV: 3:30 p.m. ET. FSN New Orleans, Sportsnet 360 (Toronto)
ABOUT THE PELICANS (19-20): Davis missed the loss to Philadelphia with a sprained left toe while Holiday sat out the last two games with ankle inflammation and both players are questionable for Sunday. Alexis Ajinca scored 16 points and pulled down 14 rebounds versus the 76ers for his second double-double of the season. Ryan Anderson was limited to eight points on 2-of-11 shooting from the field while Tyreke Evans was held to eight points and committed seven of New Orleans' 20 turnovers.
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (26-13): DeMar DeRozan led the way with 25 points against the Hawks in his second game back from a 21-game injury absence. Toronto finished with 17 turnovers en route to a season-low 89 points and has committed 55 in its last three games forcing the team to call a players-only meeting after the loss. "We had a long talk that's going to stay internal," James Johnson told reporters. "We just got a little over-confident and we started taking to heart that we're a good team and we haven't accomplished anything yet."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Raptors have won eight of the last nine matchups with the Pelicans.
2. Toronto has surrendered 100 or more points in 11 of its last 13 games.
3. New Orleans is 5-9 against Eastern Conference opponents.