Spurs at Raptors
San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich will try for career win No. 1,000 when the Spurs visit the Toronto Raptors in a key game Sunday night. The matchup is also monumental because the Spurs are opening a nine-game, three-week road trip that will cover just over 8,000 miles. They came into Saturday in seventh place in the jam-packed Western Conference, but just three games behind the third-place Houston Rockets.
The Raptors can’t seem to make up any ground on the East-leading Atlanta Hawks and sit eight games behind as of Saturday. They have managed to distance themselves from the Washington Wizards and Chicago Bulls, but now the fifth-place Cleveland Cavaliers are charging hard after winning 12 of their last 13 games. The Raptors are coming off an impressive 123-107 victory against the visiting Los Angeles Clippers, which came on the heels of bad losses to the Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBATV, FSN Southwest (San Antonio), TSN1 (Toronto)
ABOUT THE SPURS (32-18): San Antonio has won five of its last six six and nine of 11 and better yet, seems to be at its healthiest stage this season. With a win Friday against the Miami Heat, the Spurs improved to 20-6 with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard and Manu Ginobili in the lineup, compared to 12-12 when one or more of their stars missing. The Spurs also recently got Marco Belinelli back from an 11-game absence due to a groin injury and he has further strengthened their bench.
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (34-17): DeMar DeRozan did something against the Clippers he had never done in his career and that’s lead his team in scoring, rebounding and assists in the same game. He had 24 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in the win and is averaging 17.6 points and 6.3 assists in the last six games. LeBron James and James Harden are the only other non-guards averaging better numbers over the same span.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Toronto is 12-1 this season when Louis Williams makes at least half his attempts from 3-point range.
2. The win against the Clippers was the second time in franchise history the Raptors won a game by 15 or more points after trailing by 15 or more at the end of the first quarter. No other franchise has accomplished that feat more than once.
3. Popovich would become the ninth coach in NBA history with at least 1,000 career wins.
PREDICTION: Raptors 105, Spurs 97